Oncology

Any treatments are of course tailored to the patient's needs and the owner's resources and we provide guidance to both the referring veterinarian and his/her client.

Diagnosis

Extensive diagnostic capabilities and expertise to interpret the results allow us to assess the stage and severity of the disease before we advise on any treatment. We often use the following diagnostics in the research of a (new) patient:

• Digital radiography and advanced imaging, including CT imaging (and MRI if necessary) are fully supported by medical imaging specialists.
• Abdominal and thoracic ultrasound, including ultrasound guided needle aspiration and biopsy
• Laparoscopic assisted biopsy (liver, multi-organ)
• Video cystoscopy in biopsy voor blaasneoplasia
• Video rhinoscopy combined with CT for nose mass biopsy
• Surgical biopsy

Treatment

In addition to surgery, chemotherapy is an important method of treatment. Chemotherapy can be used as the only treatment, such as animals with malignant lymphoma (= lymph node cancer), or as additional therapy after surgery of malignant tumors to prevent/delay the onset of metastases.

If radiation therapy is necessary, we refer to the practice of Arno Roos in Gouda. In addition to these classic treatment methods, many developments are also taking place within veterinary medicine, such as photodynamic therapy or immunotherapy. This sometimes gives new possibilities such as for the treatment of bladder (neck) tumors in the dog, where we can now still treat dogs that had been previously treated with photodynamic therapy.

Common oncology surgeries include:

• Thoracic oncological surgery (pulmonary lobe resection for primary pulmonary neoplasia, rib resection for thoracic wall tumors, thymoma removal)
• Mast cell tumor resection and reconstruction for large mast cell tumors
• Removal of soft tissue sarcoma and skin reconstruction
• Abdominal oncological surgery (liver lobe section for primary liver tumors, splenectomy, intestinal resection and anastomosis, bladder wall neoplasia)
• Head and neck oncological surgery (thyroid carcinoma resection, parathyroidectomy, local lymph node resection)
• Skin reconstruction after oncological surgery (promotional valves, axial pattern flaps, skin grafts)
• Amputation of limbs (osteosarcoma)

In short, there are also opportunities for animals with cancer to be treated. Whether your animal is eligible for treatment, which treatment is most effective, what this treatment entails for the animal, but also for you, what you can expect from treatment (prognosis); these are questions that our oncology vets can answer. If you would like more information, please send an e-mail to oncologie@hartvanbrabant.nl to the attention of Nicole van Werven or Arno Roos