Detecting liver cancer in an old dog is not an easy task. To begin, many old dogs have what is called nodular hyperplasia. Benign masses grow on their liver, rarely causing complications.
However, these friendly masses cannot be differentiated from malignant tumors without a biopsy, an invasive procedure to remove cells from the body for further tests.
That’s where Robert O’Brien comes in. He is a professor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and is one of approximately 325 board certified veterinary radiologists in the country.
Pioneering new way
He is pioneering a new way to diagnose liver tumors in dogs with the use of ultrasound and special contrast agents.
“We are one of about half a dozen places in the world that are using contrast-enhanced ultrasound to characterize liver lesions,” said O’Brien.
His breakthrough research over the past few years has proven that some malignant tumors can be identified in a matter of seconds using ultrasound.
He explained that it’s as simple as “injecting a contrast agent and watching the blood flow to the area.”
The ability of doctors and veterinarians alike to use ultrasound to view structures within the body has been around for nearly half a century.
It is most commonly used to visualize a fetus in utero because it is extremely safe and radiation free.
Ultrasonic sound
By using ultrasonic sound, the machine generates waves that bounce off an object and return a signal to the transducer to produce an image.
While an inexperienced eye may look at an ultrasound screen and see blobs of gray, white, and black, a radiologist sees organs, vessels, tendons and perhaps a tumor in hiding.
Unlike humans, dogs and cats can hear ultrasonic sound. Some animals, such as rodents and bats even make it. But diagnostic ultrasound machines works at a frequency 1,000 times above the threshold of our pets’ hearing capabilities, so your pooch need not wear earplugs for the procedure.
Minimally invasive
The best part about O’Brien’s ultrasound technique is, “it is a minimally invasive test with basically no morbidity associated with it,” he noted.
The contrast agents that he uses are the same that are used in human medicine and are extremely safe, even at high levels.
Microscopic bubbles
While it sounds much more high-tech, the contrast agents are really just microscopic bubbles. They are filled with gas and surrounded by an outer casing. When injected into an IV catheter they show up on the ultrasound screen and allow radiologists to differentiate tissue from blood vessels.
Although this procedure is most commonly used to classify liver masses, it also can detect disease in other organs such as the spleen, kidney and pancreas.
Human benefits
The benefits of contrast ultrasound aren’t just for our four-legged friends either. It has been used in human medicine for characterizing several different types of cancers, including staging of breast cancer for the past decade.
Due to the novel use of contrast ultrasound in veterinary medicine, the procedure is currently only available in a few select veterinary hospitals.
Very promising
However, the available research is very promising and in the near future it may become the preferred method of detecting certain tumors.
(This column is provided by experts from the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.)
