This week's artwork was donated by Jaclyn, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . We had her since she was 6 weeks old and raised her on a healthy diet. She had three tumors the smallest the size of a softball. This has been a great loss and part of trying to deal with it is getting the big questionWHYanswered.
Adenocarcinomas are the most common tumor in the intestines and stomach of dogs.
There are no breeds that appear predisposed, and males are more likely to be affected than females. The prognosis is poor, as most tumors have already spread to lymph nodes by the time of diagnosis, and there is little information on treatment of these tumors in veterinary medicine. Although a very small percentage of canine tumors have a known predisposing factor, such as a particular genetic susceptibility or exposure to a known carcinogen, most cancers have no known cause. There is nothing at all in the description of your dog and her environment that can be directly associated with her tumor. There is nothing that you did that caused her tumor, and there is nothing you could have done differently to prevent it.