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Grades and Stages of Dog Skin Cancer Explained

There are many articles on cancer readily available, but not all of them are forgiving when using unfamiliar medical jargon. What is Stage II cancer? What is Grade II cancer? In this article, you will find out what all these terminologies mean.

The seriousness of skin cancer is indicated by its “grade”. Consequently, this means that the higher the grade, the more serious the cancer is.

Grade I indicates that the skin cancer isn’t very serious. Tumors classified under this grade mostly grow but do not spread out from the origin. Surgical excision is usually employed to remove these tumors.

Grade II cancer is used to classify it if the cancer’s response is unpredictable towads treatment and prognosis. When placed under this grade, skin cancer may have appeared underneath the skin or subcutaneous tissue, and may be as malignant as they are benign. About 80% of these cases are found to be treatable through radiation and therapy.

Grade III denotes a very aggressive and invasive cancer. 25% of skin cancers are found under this classification. The normal course of action to cope with cancer of this grade are chemotherapy along with surgical excision.

Skin Cancer Stage

Stages of skin cancer determine the extend of spread of the tumor. To properly assess the spread, biopsies and probing of the other lymphoid organs are conducted. The higher the stage, the more serious the tumor spread.

Stage 0 means that there is one tumor growth on the skin, and it has not been completely excised. No lymph node is affected.

Stage I means there is one tumor confined to the skin, with no lymph node involved.

Stage II indicates there is one tumor confined to the skin with regional lymph nodes involved.

Stage III will be used to classify cancer wherein there are multiple, large, and deep-infiltrating tumors in the skin, with no lymph nodes affected.

Stage IV indicates there are one or more multiple tumors in the skin, including metastasis, and lymph notes are involved.

This stage is classified into:

Substage A: no obvious clinical signs of illness

Substage B: apparent clinical signs of illness

7 Questions to Ask Your Vet About Your Dog’s Cancer Treatments

When your dog is diagnosed with cancer, your decision making skills are taxed to their limits.  Often times, the decisions are solely in your power and it can be a very lonely road.

You need to know about the variety of canine cancer treatment options available.

How to Determine The Best Cancer Treatment Options For Your Dog

Initially, you will need to decide whether you would like your dog to even go through cancer treatment.  There are many factors that play into this decision:

• Consider the stage and grade of the disease.
• Understand the emotional roller coaster that comes with treatment for both you and your dog.
• Think about the age of your dog and how much time he has left with you.  Should he be an older animal, you might want to take into consideration his quality of life.
• It sounds petty when compared with the life of a beloved animal, but you must consider finances.  Even with pet insurance, canine cancer treatment can be quite expensive.

7 Questions to Ask Your Vet About Your Dog’s Cancer Treatments

If you have chosen treatment for your dog, there are some further questions you must be prepared to answer.  These include:

1. What is the best possible outcome of treatment?
2. How often is that outcome achieved in dogs of the same age and breed?
3. How invasive and traumatic is the treatment?
4. What are the most common side effects?
5. What is the worst possible outcome including adverse reactions?
6. If the treatment fails, what is the backup plan of coping?
7. What are the associated long-term costs?

Once you have reached your decision, take confidence in it and do not second-guess yourself.

As treatment progresses, you absolutely can influence the outcome by taking special care at home.  For more information on how to best care for your dog while he or she is in treatment, check out my book about dog cancer.