Truce Cryo

The Vet
Phone 01254 53622
The VETerinary Health Centre, Daisy St.
Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5EW

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Truce's tongue tumour
Routine dental healthcare can aid early diagnosis of oral tumours.
Truce is a lively 16yr old tan cross who thinks she's a pup.

In September 2004 Truce was admitted for a routine dental de-scale and polish.
We discovered two small growths under the right side of her tongue each about 3mm diameter that were pain free and causing no problems. Growths on the tongue tend to be cancerous so we removed these small lumps and sent them for pathology. One of the growths was identified as a squamous cell tumour (SCC), a serious cancer often found in the mouth and throat. Truce made a quick recovery. We checked her every 2- 3 months over the next year. There was no re-growth. In December 2005 and again in November 2006 she had routine dental attention under anaesthetic and the tongue looked fine.
But in May 2007 at a routine check up we found a new growth under her tongue.

She was immediately admitted that day for a general anaesthetic and we confirmed a glandular tumour, a typical active squamous cell carcinoma, under the right side of her tongue. She was lucky, there was no sign of tumour spread to the lymph nodes. Cutting surgery on larger growths under the tongue is difficult so we decided to use cryosurgery to destroy the tumour by freezing.

Using a liquid nitrogen spray at about minus 210^oC we froze the tumour to a block of ice. The ice crystals formed kill the tumour cells like frostbite. We repeated the thawing and freezing cycle three times. The tumour remained in place, but the tissues were now dead and the body gradually removed the dead tissue over the next few weeks. After a few uncomfortable days Truce made a good recovery and thinks she's a pup again. We will continue to monitor her progress.