mammary cancer

Question
Hello.. I recently(last monday)brought my rabbit(female-about 6 years old and unspayed) to catnip and carrots vetrinary hospital-house rabbit society referred them.... i noticed a lump on her lower nipple..and brought her in.. dr told us they would take blood and xray and if she is healthy enough she needs surgery asap(hysterectomy and removal of tumors) ..surgery was a success..she is acting great..but they biopsyed the mammary tumor and it is cancer... she said that since she removed the lumps she felt and took out ovaries and uterus there is a chance she will be alright.. she said we have to wait and see--feeling for new growths, and if we find new ones, remove them asap... her xray showed everything was great.. only she saw a small area of white around the lungs(which she said may even be fat-she was unsure)  have you heard of this ? with removal of tumors and hysterectomy, do you think she will be alright? also, ive been giving her critical care before the surgery and for the past few days to help boost her immune system.. she does not get any sugary treats... just oxbow timothy pellets and oxbow western timothy and orchard grass..her only treats are oxbow timothy treats.. she doesnt do well with veggies... so only occassionalyy she gets organic dandelion.. she gets filtered water as well... are there any antioxidants or anyting else i can do for her? i love her so much and i am wiling to do anything for her...(she was not spyed because i adopted-rescued her from petland 4 1/2 years ago) and we were unaware of her age and she had a bad gut at the time.. she became obses and it took lots of time to get her gut healthy.. her gut is great now, and she did excellent at surgery and now.. she has a will t eat and play and her coat is so shiny... she looks great.. i just would like to know if there is anything else that i could do for her, and also if you think there is success in this diagnosis... thanks so much...

Answer
Dear Colleen,

I'm glad you have a good vet who knew exactly what to do.  And yes, the prognosis is certainly better since she was spayed:  many mammary cancers are estrogen sensitive (meaning they grow more aggressively in the presence of estrogen).  So removing her ovaries was very important in fighting metastasis of this cancer.

Mammary and uterine cancers can metastasize to the lungs.  But as the vet said, what showed up on the radiograph might just be an artifact or some other radio-opaque structure that's benign.  You just have to wait and see and hope for the best.

There are some experimental remedies on the market, only one of which actually has purported bioactivity against cancer (promoting apoptosis of cancer cells and boosting immunity).  But none have been tested in controlled studies by the FDA, so you use those at your own risk (or benefit).  If you are interested in one I am now trying on a bunny with a melanoma on his eyelid, please write me privately at dana@miami.edu

I hope your bunny will be fine, and am glad all went well with the surgery.

Dana
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