Anyone with experience of Bowen’s carcinoma in situ please help

[Moises]

Thank you all for the help and keeping me thinking positively.
Yes, my vet also says from the lab the results come as positive in papilomavirus with plaques.
We will see what we can do from today morning. Hopefully a good week

 

[Moises]

Ahh I asked my vet to give me the medical record of the cat and reading through it, I found when the vet ask the oncologist for suggestions and he mentioned he treat few cases with virbagen omega but no proven evidence that works. B babiesmom5 did you hear about that treatment before??
I am surprised to find that in the medical history because my vet didn't mentioned to me anything about that

 

[Moises]

I can well relate to your anxieties whether a spot is Bowen's or not. There were times when I thought a new spot was Bowen's but the vet (upon close examination) said it was not. Conversely, there were times when the vet (during a close examination) said a new lesion was Bowen's. It has been my experience that only a vet experienced in this disease can tell the difference.

I wouldn't panic when seeing a new spot, but I would try to find a good vet dermatologist soon. Hopefully the links provided on this thread may be of help.

As for the nose discharge, try not to think it as already squamous cell carcinoma. Remember, Bowen's is a V-E-R-Y slow growing disease. As long as you are keeping it "in situ" with treatment, there is no worry for it going sub dermal to a worse stage.

My Dermatologist told me from the outset that Bowen's is associated with the Papillomavirus. She said that most cases she sees are caused by that particular virus.

Can I ask you how you spotted new lesions? You shave the cat completely or just touching with the fingers? The brownish spot in the photo is impossible to detect it without saving the area... Cannot feel different to the finger with the fur, even shaved is very thin scab/lesion/whatever

 

[Moises]

 

[Moises]

Sorry for too many post, but I cannot find the way to edit or delete...
I just shaved Penny in a ramdom area where she was biting and find the same brown thing....
I am starting to be pessimistic....

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry for too many post, but I cannot find the way to edit or delete...

Editing is permitted once you have over 20 posts and 5 days' membership - so you'll be eligible very soon!
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[babiesmom5]

I would usually find a suspected lesion just with my fingers parting the hair. I often had my cat on my lap and while she was relaxed, I petted, massaged and sometimes discovered one. However, when I took my cat to the dermatologist, not only did she examine, treat the known lesions, she went over the cats entire body looking for any new ones. I never shaved her, the vet did to get a closer look.

As for Virgaben Omega, no this was never mentioned to me. Of course this was back in the years 2020-2022. A cursory review of this drug suggests it is more widely used in Europe than US. It is a recombinant feline interferon used to treat a variety of viral diseases. I see it used for treating FIV+ cats, FeLv, and FIPcats, but did not see anything mentioned for treating Bowen's disease. Being that it treats virus infections may have implications for Bowen's but I am not seeing any studies about it. You would have to question the vet more on this topic.

One treatment that has good success is CO2 laser therapy. I believe it was used by someone on the initial thread from Germany? Anyway, I read studies about it being effective long term; less likely for lesion to return, especially if it is gotten early, and before it has a chance to spread. It is a newer treatment, but has good success from what I read.

 

[acari]

Hello, my cat (Kaya) has Bowen's and I thought I could chime in with what we've experienced so far, to help anyone looking for information. I've read the few threads here so many times over the past couple of years because this is one of the only places anyone talks about Bowen's and the treatment in depth!

I saw the recommendations to reach out to a dermatologist instead of an oncologist and I want to say that's absolutely correct in our experience. We brought my cat to a surgeon who didn't know anything about Bowen's and an oncologist who also didn't know anything about Bowen's (but prescribed Imiquimod), and just today I finally got an appointment with a dermatologist who immediately knew what it was and had already treated many patients for it, with cryotherapy. I was worried about needing to bring up cryo and have some sort of argument or discussion but there was no need at all.

The cryotherapy was so fast and easy, no sedation needed, just a little bit of lidocaine (local numbing). The vet tech said it took more time to try to get the estimate typed up than the freezing itself.

Of course, we have to wait for the areas to heal and the scabs to fall off before we know if it did anything - but the dermatologist was very straightforward and said that if we thought it needed another session, it would be really easy and wouldn't even need another consultation.

To answer some of Moises 's questions:
I don't find many new lesions on Kaya, in the span of a year I guess I would say only one? Maybe two? But her initial lesion was there for a very long time, more than a year - the doctor initially thought it was just a scab that fell off but it kept reoccurring.
That lesion was surgically excised for a biopsy (wasn't 100% conclusive) and hasn't returned, but at that time, the vet found another lesion. That one has also been there for more than a year, it has grown quite slowly, it got zapped today with cryo.

I asked the dermatologist how we find or monitor for new lesions and she said that it's our (the owners') job, as we know the cats best, we are the ones petting them every day. I guess, because the lesions grow so slowly, you have time to get them to the office - assuming you have a dermatologist nearby (very sorry for your troubles on that front).

The dermatologist also mentioned that the Imiquimod cream is usually used for lesions on the face and head, because it's harder for the cat to ingest the cream. But when she was explaining cryotherapy, she did say that it's possible to do that on the face, just more difficult as they have to cover the cat's eyes - maybe that would require sedation.

I'm unable to offer any insight about Imiquimod - I have some but I never used it as Kaya has a lot of digestive issues and the timing was never right for us to feel comfortable starting it, and now that we've been seen by the dermatologist, it may not be necessary.

A huge thank you to the people who have posted about Bowen's here in the past, the information has been so, so helpful.

 

[babiesmom5]

Welcome to the "Bowen's Club" A acari ...the club no cat, or cat parents wants to belong, yet here we are.
Thank you for weighing in with your insights and experience on this rare disease.

You are most fortunate for Kaya to be under the care of a knowledgeable and competent dermatologist. Also, since your cat has digestive issues, (as did mine, IBD), it was good you didn't start out with the Imiquimod and went straight to cryotherapy. My cat had lesions on the head and neck, initially treated with Imiquimod, but she would groom those areas, then lick the paw injesting Imiquimod. With Cryotherapy, that was not an issue, and was more effective.

No doubt you will be monitoring Kaya closely after her first Cryotherapy treatment, waiting, watching for the scabs to fall off. I must caution you though, just because the scabs fall off, the skin may not return to normal. You may wonder if the treatment took care of it or not as the dark color may still be there rather than pink skin color. Sometimes, it was hard for my eye to tell if it worked or not, but the dermatologist, with her trained eye and intense light could tell. If in question after a reasonable time, ask dermatologist for a look and if needed, a re-zap.

I wish you and Kaya all the best in her healing journey. Thanks again for adding your experiences here.

 

[acari]

Thank you for the advice! The dermatologist essentially said the same thing and did say that if we had any doubts, to schedule another consultation.

I just remembered something else from the appointment that I thought I should mention: The doctor said that, other than a biopsy, there's no real way to know if something is Bowen's or not, but that she wouldn't recommend doing a biopsy on every lesion (it just doesn't make sense). She said that when a patient is known or suspected to have Bowen's, may as well zap anything odd that you can find, just in case, as it doesn't really hurt them, and it's much better to start treating the lesions when they are small.

 

[babiesmom5]

Your dermatologist gave me the same advice

 

[AlexaB]

Hello everyone . I just received a notification about this new thread and I want to say that I am here to help in any way I can. I am the one with the black cat in the pictures after the laser treatment. I was fortunate enough to get the help and information from Babiesmom when I was panicking 2 years ago. My cat is now 18 and a half, she has some other issues but the Bowens is also still there.
I think we tried a lot of different treatments, so I will try to share our experience with all of them, as short as I can and if needed, I will try to answer any other questions.
Maybe this link helps you find a dermatologist in your area that knows the disease The Journal Veterinary Dermatology | ESVD - European Society of Veterinary Dermatology

I would simply email them, see what they say - this helped in my case and I found a very good doctor in Germany (I live in eastern Europe so it was a bit more complicated and expensive but it had to be done because laser was not available and her lesions were very extensive and no other option could have been used). Aldara almost killed my cat so I personally do not think it is a good option, unless there are only very few lesions and they are small. This does not mean it's bad, it was just the wrong option for us.
Laser was the best, it ensured all lesions were removed correctly but again, my cat's lesions were extensive and could not have been removed in another way. After she recovered, we had to adapt to what was available where we live. The vet's recommendation was to check and remove new lesions every 3-6 months which we did. How many would appear depends on every cat and her imune system. It can be 2, it can be 10. Because we did not find cryotherapy, the vet cauterized the lesions (she said it's basically also a burn but not by freeze but with electric current). This is something every surgeon has as they use it for a lot of surgeries. In our case, this one worked very well. It was mostly done under local anesthesia but 1-2 times they also sedated her because she had more lesions and they considered it less stressful. This is basically how we treated new lesions since the laser surgery.

On the SCC part, I remember also being panicked about it but the vet in Germany explained some things to me which turned out to be true. First, do not panic, this one also progresses very slow and it usually does not metastasize. All suspicious looking lesions (where you see blood or the ones that do not react to Aldara) should anyway be excised surgically because you need to think that it progressed and you treat it as if it's cancer. a form of better safe than sorry let's say. They basically remove it surgically, with a scalpel, cutting deeper and wider to make sure they reached healthy tissue. My cat had at least one that progressed - confirmed by biopsy - but it was removed as described above and it was fine. She is still fine 2 and a half years later. If those do not heal or come back fast (like in the same place, a few weeks apart) it means it was not removed properly the first time and needs to be done again, deeper. This does not mean you can let them progress, of course, but it is not the disaster I thought it would be. No chemo is necessary etc. Fortunately, it was not the case for us.

Lastly, on the sneezing topic, it is most probably not a side effect from Aldara, but what happens to cats apparently often (my cat has it too - watery discharge from one eye and one nostril which causes sneezing) is her lacrimal duct is blocked. Maybe ask the vet if it's not that? This can be unclogged but it is pretty painful and usually gets blocked again. Best is to leave it alone, it does not affect her quality of life (this is what my vet told me)

That is all I wanted to say but I am here if you think my experience would help
Good luck and don't panic. You are doing the best you can and simply being here and putting in the effort to find the best option for your kitty is half the battle, really.

 

[AlexaB]

Sorry, posted the wrong link for the dermatologists. It's this one About ECVD

 

[babiesmom5]

Thank you A AlexaB for weighing in here with your knowledge and insights. I am glad to know that your Bowen's kitty is managing this, (and other issues) at 18 1/2 years old. You have stayed on top of things and no doubt your experience and support will be of tremendous help to those here on this thread. .