relievedHere's the reply we got:
"Boy that is a conflicting report. In one area it says benign and prognosis
good and then the general comment is much more serious. The bottom line is
that about 85% of mast cell tumors are grade II indicating moderately well
differentiated cells and mild to moderate (occasionally extensive)
subcutaneous infiltration. Most dogs develop more than one mast cell tumor
in their lives if they get them at all. They are all considered potentially
malignant but it is very much an individual dog thing whether they behave in
an aggressive fashion. I have a friend who had a Weimaraner put to sleep at
the age of 16 year for old age reasons. The dog had 20 grade II mast cell
tumors removed over its lifespan and never developed metastatic disease or
had any problem other than an occasional new tumor. Shar Peis have terrible
mast cell disease which is highly metastatic but that is a breed thing. Mast
cell tumors are fairly common in Boston terriers so her dog will probably
develop more than one!
I would just recommend wide excision of each tumor and careful
monitoring for new masses. Most dogs do not get metastatic disease unless
you ignore the tumors. I disagree with that comment about 60% of grade II
tumors causing death within two years. My experience with all that I have
diagnosed is very different. Most dogs with excision do not develop
metastatic disease. That study looks like it was a skewed population. Laura
has read the article and said it was true in their population but you notice
that 40% of the dogs survived greater than 1500 days. May want to do a wider
excision since he says inflammation extends to the margins. Hope that helps."
Needless to say I am very much relieved. As of right now, the little brat is doing fine. Her fur is finally growing back to a decent length, and she's managing to get alot of table scraps and pizza crust out of us.
Brat. But I love her.