|
A higher rate of the incidence of malignant melanoma in
Scotland compared to England has been thought to be associated
with the fair skinned Scottish population! It is also thought
that whilst excessive exposure to sunlight and ultraviolet
radi-ation is the main causative factor associated with
malignant melanoma up to 10% of these are linked to inherited
characteristics.
Given that "Georgie" - a 10 year old Scottish
Terrier - recently developed malignant melanoma of a toe
on her left hind leg one has to assume that, given the limited
exposure to the sun of this area - and that Georgie is covered
in that protective melanin layer - that inherited characteristics
may have a bigger part to play in the canine species.
What is important in both humans and dogs is that early
detection and removal is important. This can be especially
difficult in dogs where the tumour can be a master of disguise
and in this instance mimicked a damaged toenail in the early
stages. Alerted to the fact that this damaged toenail was
not responding to treatment as predicted we were quick to
move to toe amputation to halt the disease process. Sadly,
given the aggressive nature of this cancer we can but hope
that this disease hasn't spread elsewhere. In the meantime
"Georgie" is back to enjoying life to the full
and I am back to slapping on the factor 20!
Terry
Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS
Back
to "Interesting Cases"
If you wish to print or save this page it
is available in PDF format here
|
