Surgical removal of soft tissue sarcoma on cat - Is it worth it? Looking for your experiences and advice

[badibug]

My dear kitty developed a substantial lump on her back. My regular vet did a fine needle aspiration and the cytology results were consistent with a soft tissue sarcoma. I was referred to a specialty surgical clinic, and we’ve had our consult and have surgery scheduled for Monday. I did not have a biopsy done, as the cost was estimated at $1,500. They do plan to do a CT scan on Monday prior to the surgery to determine depth of the mass and whether it can be removed surgically. They may recommend chemo if the tumor is high grade, and worst case they would have to do revision surgery (if the first one does not get all the cancer cells) and radiation therapy.

It’s all a lot to process and I was alone at the surgery clinic and probably did not have a deep enough conversation with the vet about long term prognosis. I have a call in with them for more information, but in the meantime I’m hoping some of you can share your experiences.

The total cost of the surgery is estimated at $5-6,000. This is not an easy amount of money for me to spend. Not at all. But if it will cure her and she’ll live a long healthy life it’s worth it. She is only 6 years old. However, my mom called yesterday after talking to friends who have had experience with their pets on surgery to remove tumors. All of them said the tumors came back on their pets. If faced with the decision again, they would not do the surgery.

The vet thought the cause of the tumor might have been because it was the injection site for vaccinations my cat received. Something about the needle or the vaccine itself causing a disruption to the cells and they get wonky and turn into cancer (obviously I’m not a doctor ;)). I had never heard of this before.

So… have any of you experienced something similar? Would you do the surgery? Or just let it play out and fill kitty’s last days (however many that may be) with lots of love and fun.

She is a very special cat. It’s a tough decision.

[OzarksRider]

My sister had a cat that developed a soft tissue tumor (sarcoma) on her back that was caused by a vaccine. The cat had the surgery to remove the tumor and lived several years after that and never needed any further treatment for the sarcoma. She lived to be an old cat (17-18 years old). I don’t know if this was a typical result, but maybe it will give you reason to be hopeful for your cat.

[4horses]

I’m so sorry. That is such a young age. One of my cats had breast cancer. The first surgery was a breeze. It was not diagnosed early enough for a mastectomy, so I decided to just have the lumps removed.

She recovered well from the first surgery. I think it kept her comfortable for about 6 months. The tumors came back a second time, and I had a second surgery done. Unfortunately, it immediately returned at the surgery site, and grew internally very rapidly. She made it 3 more months before it started pressing on her intestines and I had her pts.

For me, the first surgery was worth it. She recovered well and was eating, playful, and oblivious to the fact she had cancer. I don’t know if the second surgery was worth it. Perhaps it gave her some extra time, I can’t say for certain. Recovery took about 14 days each time from surgery to stitches removal. She didn’t seem overly painful during the recovery process, but sleepy, tired yes.

The day of the surgery was the worst, because she would come home terrified, disoriented, and drunk. But once she realized she was home, she would settle down to sleep. I put a bed and litter box in a large dog crate. I would sit on the floor and stroke her head, and chin until she relaxed enough to fall asleep. You could see her transition from being confused and scared to feeling safe again.

If you caught it early and the tumor is small, then everything should be pretty straightforward. But you do want an aggressive surgeon - to get clear margins.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹My cats cancer was extremely aggressive. She went from having a pea sized lump to multiple masses. The prognosis was poor (less than 1 year). I did the surgery to keep her comfortable, and buy both of us time to say goodbye. And I think she was comfortable and happy until the very last week. She ate well, was playful, and was doing okay until the end. She stopped eating and I knew it was time.

Now my other cat has possible small cell lymphoma. He’s on chemo, but he’s already gained about 1 lb in weight and is happy/playful. Sitting on my lap as I type this. If he goes in remission, he could live for years. I sure hope so. He’s the best cat I could have.

The 1st surgery was $1200, the 2nd one was $450.

$6000 sounds too high unless this is a university doing the surgery? I could not have afforded it if it was $6000.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

[OzarksRider]

Badibug, was the $5000-$6000 estimate the cost of surgery only or did that include the cost of the CT scan and radiation/chemo if necessary?

When you’re weighing your options don’t place too much emphasis on other people’s experiences because their situations were probably not exactly like yours. Their pets may have had a different type of cancer, other health problems, older age, etc. Your best advice will likely come from the veterinarian who is doing the surgery. That person should have the experience to have a good idea how this is likely to play out.

Like I wrote in my previous post, my sister’s cat had surgery for a vaccine related sarcoma and lived a normal life afterwards. I don’t know if she was just very lucky or if that’s a common result.

[badibug]

Thank you both so much for your responses. OzarksRider, the cost estimate covered the CT scan and surgery only.

I did get some additional information from the surgeon:

“The tumor that we think this is (feline vaccine associated sarcoma) is unfortunately a very locally aggressive tumor. Although there is a chance of curing the tumor with surgery, local recurrence (regrowth of the tumor at the same site) is common. Although there are different estimates out there, I would estimate local recurrence occurs in at least 50-60% of patients at some point. Tumor regrowth is reported anywhere from 2 months to 16 months after surgery. So some cats can maintain a fairly longterm remission with surgery. As we discussed, the surgical removal of these tumors is radical and we aim to achieve 5cm margins around the tumor. Other than local recurrence, there is also a 10-25% risk of metastatic spread - which means spread to other areas in the body such as lymph nodes and lungs. Radiation therapy at the surgical and chemotherapy can also be helpful at achieving or maintaining disease remission.”

I think more than anything, I’d like this thread to serve as a PSA to others who didn’t know that feline vaccine associated sarcoma was a thing. It is wise for all of us to carefully consider which vaccines we choose to have administered to our pets. I was also reading that it can be better to have vaccines injected in the leg or even the tail, so that if a tumor does develop the entire appendage can be amputated for a better chance at completely eradicating the cancer cells.