Update on the diagnosis and treatment of mast cell tumors

摘要

Very few tumors present in such a wide variety of clinical signs: they are indeed the great impostors! They can look like anything and behave differently depending on the histologic type, location and the extent of the disease. The following is a brief discussion about these tumors. Some highlights are as follows: Mast cell tumor granules do not stain well with Diff Quick type stains unless they are "soaked" in the alcohol tor several minutes prior to staining. Some important prognostic indicators include duration of presence, location and histologic type in the dog. Mast cell tumors tend to metastasize to nodes, liver spleen and bone marrow...rarely to lungs. Radiation therapy is extremely effective for controlling local disease. Prednisone and vincristine when used as single agents induce a remission (partial or complete) in about 23 percent of the tumors. Vinblastine and prednisone appear to be effective.