I am quoting an article about Melanoma. “Malignant melanoma, which develops in the mouth or in the distal limbs (usually the toenail beds), is an incurable disease. These tumors have very often spread to distant parts of the body (metastasized) by the time they are first noticed, making complete surgical removal impossible. Radiation therapy can help extend the lives of affected dogs, but also is ineffective against tumor cells that have metastasized. Chemotherapy is also not considered capable of adequately controlling canine malignant melanoma. Melanoma seems to be uniquely responsive to immune-based therapies, and various novel approaches are under development to treat this disease.”
On November 8th last year, we brought you to AMC belatedly in order to receive this immune-based therapy, called DNA (deoxilibonucleic acid) Vitajet-mediated vaccination (injection by a spring-loaded needle-free device). You received 4 DNA treatments and 3 examinations for this therapy on Nov. 22, Dec. 6, Dec. 22 and Jan. 5 of this year. By this last examination, the suspected spread (metastasis) was completely gone and the DNA therapy seemed to have worked for you.
However, the operation you received in October last year was nothing but the staging process according to the cancer specialists, which was to be the beginning of the cancer therapy. So, about two weeks later after the completion of the DNA therapy, the feared recurrence of Melanoma in your mouth was found on Jan. 17th and we took you to AMC again on Jan 19th. The result of the TC Scan examination on Jan. 26th revealed that “the cancer has spread extensively in the upper jawbone (maxilla). The surgeon pointed out that the excision from the dogtooth up to the first molar would be required at the minimum. He could not say for sure whether the cancer can be taken out completely or not unless he actually executes the surgery. If the resection is not complete, then follow-up radiation therapy is necessary.” Thus, we were confronted with the severe decision whether to go or no go with the surgery.
We considered the following consequences.
- You might be among the 15% that would come out problematic with the functional and cosmetic results.
- Following the surgery, you might be subject to the radiation therapy which would deteriorate your health.
- All the above might increase the chances of spreads to other parts of your body.
Thus, the chances of your survival with the surgery seemed to be dim to us and we gave it up.
After we had given up your surgery, we were told that your life expectancy is 2 months at best. The tumor in your mouth had grown up by leap and bounce but you had fought courageously with it for 5 months until you succumbed finally to this terrible disease. You stayed surprisingly active until the last day of your life without any sign of spreads to the other parts of your body. You taught us that we should have taken the chance, no matter how dim the prospect of success had looked like, and let you go through the surgery and possible radiation. Even if this had resulted in causing the spreads to the other parts of your body, we would have at least saved you from suffering and fighting so hard with the growing tumor in your mouth, while the rest of your body remained so healthy. And who knows you might have been living through your 15th birthday by now. The lesson you taught us is the following:
Accept the proposed therapy by the specialist without hesitation, believing that Melanoma can be cured!