1170. Schwannoma in a 10-year-old Miniature Schnauzer

April 13, 2015

This male 11-year-old Miniature Schnauzer had a big grey skin lump, 1.3 cm x 0.8 cm x 0.7 cm on the skin of his toe. It could be a melanoma. Dr Daniel suggested excision and histology.

Histology
Benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour suggestive of schwannoma. No evidence of malignancy. Good news. Otherwise, the toe will need to be amputated.

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MY OPINION
As the dog is old and the growth is greyish and growing "fast", the owner should be given an alternative surgery - excision of the digit (toe) in case the tumour is malignant as there is not sufficient margin to remove all tumours.

In this case, "some of the spindle cells ae seen to reach the deep resection margin focally" meaning that the whole schwannoma could not be excised fully. There is a possibility of recurrence and a need for toe amputation later. The owner was aware of this possibility.