Lymphoma is a cancer type that occurs when lymphocytes known as white blood cells become malignant. Lymphocytes under normal circumstances are cells of the immune system that help your dog fight against infections. They live in the lymph nodes which is a complex system connected by webs of veins.
Lymphoma is normally diagnosed by cytology and histopathology as in excising the lymph node completely or partially with a fine needle. At this point, the disease can be definitively diagnosed. The important detail that you should be aware of is that lymphoma is the general label for a group of diseases each of which acts differently and respond to different kinds of treatment approaches.
Radiation therapy is the most common conjoint therapy in veterinary medicine. In cases when the tumor cannot be surgically completely removed or when another surgical intervention is not possible, in order to clear the remaining malignant parts of mast cell tumors or soft tissue sarcoma, radiation is used.
In order to be able to fight the lymphoma in dogs, to approach the patient correctly and to predict the prognosis accurately, all information about the disease is needed. The point to remember; there is no single lymphoma disease; each patient should be considered as a new disease.
Computarized Tomography (CT) is an imaging technique that creates cross sectional pictures, detailed “slices” of your cat or dog’s body using X-ray beams. The information obtained is reconfigurated by computers and evaluated by radiologists.