Spindle Cell Sarcoma

I'm looking for some input for those of you who have or have had a cat with cancer. My 8 year old tabby had a lump on his cheek/neck area that the vet partially removed via surgery. The biopsy of the lump came back as myxoid spindle cell sarcoma, intermediate grade, and incompletely excised. My vet said that due to the area, she was not able to remove all the tentacles of the cancer and that overall it is a bad area to work on as the tumor originates deep in the muscle. If it was a leg or a paw, amputation would be possible, but sadly that is not the case. I am not sure if it makes sense to pursue chemotherapy or another surgery as removing so much tissue seems an impossible feat. Has anyone else faced this decision and what did you decide to do? If the tumor was removed, did it come back? How long did your cat live after diagnosis and what was the quality of life? Any input would be so helpful as I do not want to put him through invasive procedures if the success rate is not good. Thank you in advance!

To add a bit more info, the biopsy results are as follows:
Focal firm solid lesion from the left ventral neck
Myxoid spindle cell sarcoma, intermediate grade
Margins: Incompletely excised, extends to deep and lateral margins
Mitotic count: 6
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumore or similar neoplasm is most likely. Recurrence after incomplete excision is likely, but metastatic potential is low.

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Hi KR4ZINE and welcome to the forum !

There is a specialized online community of people who are caring for cats with cancer. They've been active for the past 19+ years - it's an excellent place to get advice, information and support......that's where I would be heading for those kinds of answers.

You'll find them here: Feline Cancer Support Group. Just click on the purple + Join Group button.

I'd recommend that you get a new separate email address to use exclusively for the group (Yahoo works well) - they use email for their postings, so that will help you keep track of the information flow.

Hope that helps and thinking of you both.
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My rainbow kitty had cancer on his neck, it sounds like a very similar placement. He was also younger, only around 9 or 10 if I remember right. I don't remember what type it was specifically but I know our vet removed all they could find the first time. We even caught it initially before it was bigger then a quarter. We did do chemotherapy and it did come back. When it came back it wrapped around his main artery and couldn't be removed a second time (we wanted it removed to buy him time without vet visits). We believe it did spread through the artery because he showed neurological signs shortly before he died (it was actually the trigger that told us it was time). He never had noticable side effects from the chemo but he was on various medications to limit nausea, promote appitite and pain management from the first diagnosis to his last day.

How to proceed is a deeply personal choice. It is ultimately the choice that you alone have to live with.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done the chemo. He hated going to the vet and it bought him just a handful of months filled with frequent vet visits. However, I don't know if I could have come to peace with it if I hadn't tried because I wouldn't know if it could have helped. I know with my current two; Link I would if he had at least 50% chance of remission on the other hand Rocket could be 90% chance of remission and I wouldn't because she just can't handle vets and regular medication. But I am also lucky that at the time I was in a financial position to do the chemo without it majorly impacting my financial situation long term. If I couldn't have afforded it without putting myself deeply in debt, I probably wouldn't have.

Thank you both so much! The info/experience is priceless to me!

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I'm glad you posted back.

Do make sure you join up with those folks. These groups are a wealth of info, advice and support. They're 'in-the-know' about the latest treatments, and they'll have information on any drug trials/research etc that's to be had.

The format of these groups takes a little getting used to....that's why I suggested the dedicated email account. With FB and forums like this, some folks find an email platform a 'challenge'....bear with it until you get 'the hang of it' and be assured you'll be in good hands.

Now look.......two things: one, do keep us updated as best you can...and, two: this is not 'Scott-free' - you absolutely need to do more, as follows

• "cat" and "tabby" and his gender description just won't cut it here - he cannot remain anonymous and we also must have pictures !

Thinking of you both
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Thank you for everything! I definitely need a support group so the site you suggested will be very helpful. I have 5 of the loveliest felines to ever exist and the incredibly handsome fellow (Dean) in my profile pic is the one with cancer. He's absolutely adorable and has a sweet disposition (unlike his brother Sammy, who is pigheaded on the best of days but endearing in his own way). Thank you again for taking the time to pass on this info to me!

Did the vet ever mention radiation to kill the cancer? It requires traveling to a big veterinary hospital or university, but if Dean can tolerate car rides and you are in driving distance of one, it is something to consider.

I do t have experience with this cancer in cats, but I have tons of experience with it in dogs. My heart dog has battled this on his sciatic nerve 5x since 2012. He was 4 when first diagnosed. He did a full radiation course after the first mass removal, it came back 1 year later, did a full thickness removal and it was back 3 months later.removed it with a large core of muscle, and that bought us another year. In February we did our last full thickness removal. He is nearing 10 and I just can't ask more of him, also we have ran out of skin to work with, they would not be able to close it up.

Radiation was not terrible for him, it was more of being away from me for a month that was hard. I will say radiation gave us no extra benefit as far as I'm concerned, full thickness removal and surgery with radiation gave us a year both ways. The radiation damaged his skin significantly, the later surgical incisions had a difficult time healing.

If you have any questions about our experience I'm happy to share. Good luck to you and Dean!