My dog has a breast lump. Biopsy or surgery first? Will it spread?

Question

Hi. My 10 yr old 5 lb shidtsu/Maltese had a mass on her breast 1"X11/2"X11/2". My questions are, is a needle biopsy or lump removal first step? Is a soft tissue surgeon required? Can removing mass cause it to spread if malignant? And is cryotherapy a better option for removal? Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Female | unspayed | 10 years and 3 months old | 5 lbs

Amy S. Eutsey, DVM · Accepted Answer

The steps I would take are 1. Pre/operative blood panel 2. Chest X-ray to make sure there are no metastatic masses in the chest. 3. Complete surgical removal of the mass with wide margins AND spay at the same time. 4. Submit tumor for histopathology to see if it is malignant. Make sure the chest X-ray is clear. If this is malignant and has already metastasized to the chest, then successful outcome for long term survival changes. Surgical removal will not make it spread faster. I don’t think cryotherapy is a good idea because the surgical area will be too large and she needs to be spayed also. These tumors are very hormonally dependent. Her ovaries need to be removed as well as the tumor. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

My dog has a breast lump. Biopsy or surgery first? Will it spread?

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