With the amount of funds, time and effort that has gone into cancer research, one would think that it is high time that there was a permanent cure or vaccine to prevent the disease. Despite the enormous progress that has been made in this field, science is still far from a permanent solution for human as well as canine cancer.

Every now and then we keep on hearing about vaccines for different types of cancers. For example a study revealed that the human papilloma virus was significantly effective in preventing vulval and vaginal cancer lesions in women. Another significant development reported in recent times is that of a conditional approval of a vaccine for canine melanoma.

It is difficult to treat advanced melanoma regardless of whether it occurs in humans or dogs or as a form of feline cancer . In later stages the melanoma is extremely resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation. This resistance led to a need to look for new modes of treating the deadly cancer. The emphasis was on developing a vaccine that would rein in the immune system.

The spleen in the body is the storehouse of blood. It also functions as an organ for destroying old red blood cells and holding blood for emergencies. It is an important part of the body’s immune system. Located just below the stomach, in emergencies such as a hemorrhage, it springs into action to provide blood for replenishing the loss. Even though life can be normal without a spleen, its absence, however, predisposes infections.

The spleen constitutes of a red soft surface containing two different types of pulp – white and red. While the red pulp functions as a mechanical filter removing unwanted substances from the blood, the white pulp helps to fight infections.

A growth in the spleen signifies abnormality and the presence of cancer cells needs to be investigated. A growth leading from the red pulp is usually a rare malignant neoplasm characterized by rapidly proliferating anaplastic cells known as hemagiosarcoma. It is derived from blood vessels lining blood-filled spaces. Growths arising from the white pulp are either mast cell tumors or a lymposarcoma, which is the more common type of feline cancer rather than canine cancer. Two third of all spleen tumors signify cancer in dogs . Again about two third of all malignancy in spleen arises from the red pulp causing hemagiosarcoma.

The success of any cancer treatment is directly related to the stage at which it is detected. There are strong possibilities of cancer in dogs spreading to vital organs making surgical removal an impossible task.

All cancers do not occur as tumors that can be seen on the surface of the body. And therefore these tumors are not too easy to notice and monitor. In many cases malignant cancer symptoms manifest themselves as symptoms that are related directly to the organ it affects.

Symptoms like gastrointestinal bleeding or diarrhea are associated with a tumor in the stomach, small and large intestines or colon. Similarly, cancer in hormone producing organs surfaces in the shape of endocrinal disorders and brain or spinal cord tumors are associated with neurological symptoms.

However there are instances where cancer produces general symptoms that do not point to a specific organ. For example, the symptoms of liver cancer in dogs like loss of appetite, a distended stomach and weakness can be associated with cancer as well as other ailments. Some of the other non specific symptoms include weight loss, low grade fever, muscle weakness, skin rash, hair loss and lethargy.

The location of oral and pharyngeal cancer presents an immediate danger to the life of the dog. The growth causes an obstruction in the oral passage that is difficult to operate and excise.

Benign oral cancer in dogs presents a good prognosis as it does not spread and invade the bones or other tissues like malignant tumors. Benign tumors are well defined and limited to an area while malignant tumors metastasize to nearby as well as distant organs of the body. Treating malignant oral cancers often poses a challenge to surgeons as they are difficult to access. There is aslo an accompanied risk of disfiguration as well.

Early detection is elemental to the success of treatment. Symptoms of oral cancer normally appear in the mouth as:

* Abnormal lumps.
* Overgrowth of gums.
* Bleeding.
* Lesions and sores.
* Difficulty in chewing and swallowing.

But these symptoms do not surface in early stages like the symptoms of liver cancer in dogs and show after it is already too late.

Three types of oral cancer are known to develop in dogs and cats. Oral feline cancer is rarely benign.

Medically, cancer is known as malignant neoplasm. However, a growth or a tumor may be benign or malignant. The three properties that differentiate self-limiting benign tumors from malignant cancer are:

-    Uncontrolled growth, which is division and multiplication beyond normal limits
-    Invasion, which is intrusion and destruction of adjacent cells
-    And sometimes metastasis, which is spread to other locations in the body through lymph nodes or blood.

Cancer is basically a disease of regulation of growth of tissue and with the exception of leukemia, most cancers form tumors. For the disease to spread and develop further in the body, a normal cell must change into a cancer cell. The common course in all cancers is the alteration in the genetic material of a cancerous cell and its progeny.

According to a report published in January 2006 in the National Geographic “there is compelling evidence that cancers hidden beneath the skin can be detected simply by (dogs) examining a person’s breath.” While the basis of this news may be debatable till is conclusively proven, cancer remains a medical condition that is usually detected very late in humans as well as dogs.