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My dog's vet suspects a mast cell tumor. How serious is this?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 13 lbs

I took her to the vet and he did an FNA. He said that it might be MCT but he said he wasn't sure. So I figured I would ask. If this is MCT, how serious is this? After searching I learned that FNA isn’t enough to grade MCT but still… can we know anything from these photos?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Andrea

Veterinarian

Published on March 9th, 2018

I’m glad you are getting Sunny help from your vet. MCTs can be very scary. These tumors can be very dangerous and should be removed promptly. Grading a tumor just by a FNA can be very difficult or impossible. I’ve looked at the slides and agree with your vet that a MCT is a definite possibility here. Sending the entire mass so that it is known if it was completely removed is important. Also, there are special stains and viewing criteria that help a pathologist to grade the tumor properly, but I think they need more tissue than just an aspirate.

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