Things You'll Need:
- Veterinarian
- Surgery
- Radiation
- Chemotherapy
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Step 1
Take your dog to a veterinary oncologist to ensure a specialist is treating him. Your dog will need to undergo a number of biopsies to confirm the diagnosis and to determine if the cancer has spread. Other tests, such as abdominal ultrasounds, fine needle aspirations of the lymph nodes, chest x-rays, blood work and a urinalysis should all be performed.
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Step 2
Consider giving your dog the melanoma vaccine. Although the vaccine does not prevent death in all dogs with melanoma, it appears to prolong life in canines diagnosed with stage II and stage III melanoma. The melanoma vaccine does not prevent melanoma, but works by triggering the dog's immune system to fight off the melanoma tumor protein tyrosinase, according to the Cancer Research Institute.
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Step 3
Schedule your dog for surgery to remove any tumors as soon as possible. If the melanoma is caught and treated early, your dog's prognosis will be good. If the tumor is not surgically removed, there is a substantial risk that the cancer will spread through the lymph system to other areas of the body.
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Step 4
Follow up with targeted radiation. After surgical removal of the tumor(s), radiation treatments may be given to kill any remaining cancer cells at the primary tumor location, according to the University of Florida. Radiation is typically given three times post surgery: on day 1, day 7 and day 21.
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Step 5
Ask about chemotherapy to treat your dog's melanoma. Study results published in the May 2001 issue of the Journal of the AVMA showed a response rate of nearly 30 percent in dogs treated with carboplatin, a type of chemotherapy medication.
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Step 6
Examine your dog frequently to check for any suspicious lesions or discolored patches on the skin or in the eyes, nose or mouth. Report any findings to your dog's veterinarian immediately.
