5907. VET CASE STUDY: Chest X-rays of coughing inappetant lethargic old dog. 17-year-old male Shih Tzu

Will an x-ray show lung cancer in a dog?

Common symptoms include difficulty breathing, exercise intolerance, or non-productive cough. However, some dogs only experience weight loss (despite a good appetite) and/or lack of energy. Other dogs have no symptoms at all. Diagnosis of lung cancer usually starts with a chest X-ray.

 Can you see tumors on X-rays?

The soft tissues in the body (like blood, skin, fat, and muscle) allow most of the X-ray to pass through and appear dark gray on the film. A bone or a tumor, which is denser than soft tissue, allows few of the X-rays to pass through and appears white on the X-ray.

 

What is the most common lung tumor in dogs?

Bronchogenic adenocarcinoma is the most common primary lung tumor, making up 75% of cases. Dogs can also develop squamous cell carcinoma or sarcomas in their lungs as well. As primary lung tumors are typically slow growing, they can become quite large before they are finally diagnosed.

X-rays of the lungs from an infected dog will usually reveal white spots in the lung fields which are consistent with lung fluke cysts. X-rays are also useful to determine how many cysts are present and where they are located. On occasion, an asymptomatic dog will be diagnosed when X-rays are taken for other reasons.