I'm just wondering if anyone has any new information on dealing with lipomas.

My nearly-6-year-old, 70 lb lab-mix Dante has one or two small ones in his arm pits (as does his brother, who is my sister's dog), and one larger, faster growing one on his middle back near his spine. It's the one on his back that's of concern to me. During his checkup a couple of months ago, the vet took a sample and said it's just a lipoma, but it's grown quite bit since then (possibly doubled in size). It's maybe about golfball sized now but it's a little hard to tell as the vet said it's underneath the top layer of his back muscles.

Due to the proximity to his spine, it's making me nervous. I've scheduled an appointment to go see an out-of-town neurologist on July 8, just to be sure there's nothing to worry about as far as his spine's concerned. This particular neurologist I've seen before, several times, with my parent's dog. He did a miraculous surgery on their 100lb dog when he'd blown a disk and become paralyzed, so there's really no one I'd rather see for Dante's spinal lipoma at the moment.

My vet is not enthused with my plan, saying that that's not what she'd recommend and that I should instead bring him back in to her for a second check. That's neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned. Dante's going to see the neurologist regardless.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any other helpful advise. I've read that curcumin can help and am thinking about starting him on CurcuVET-SA150. Also, I should note that so far, Dante doesn't seem to be showing any kind of effects from that thing being there. I just want to keep it that way.

Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

"My vet is not enthused with my plan, saying that that's not what she'd recommend and that I should instead bring him back in to her for a second check."

What's not what she would recommend? A consult with a neuro DVM? Or surgery?


You know that a lipoma is benign, right? Isn't curcumin (an active component of turmeric) something that may be helpful in controlling cancer growth? That is, maybe a liposarcoma, but not a lipoma.

This is off the top of my head, and we haven't had a lipoma thread here for a while.

Also just off the top of my head, I think what the vet is telling you is that much depends on the progression between now and a second check. That is, I think she may be saying that whether it is growing fast, whether it is infiltrative, etc., is the first thing to determine (since there is no neuro symptom).

Have you considered a consult with a tumor specialist?

I'm not a health professional and I don't know a lot about spinal lipomas, so this is all JMO.

I'm thinking that a neuro surgeon consultation (if surgery is the neuro guy's specialty) is going to slant any decision process toward surgery. That is, surgery is what a surgeon does and what he knows.

All JMO, again. Just thinking out loud and in no way offering a medical opinion of any kind.

Hiya Connie - I think my vet isn't recommending consulting with the neurologist, though I haven't talked with her directly so I don't know what information I told the tech on the phone got through to her. What happened was the Animal Care Center (where the neurologist is) called my vet for Dante's medical records, so then my vet (the vet tech actually) called me to see what was up. So I told her that I wanted to have him seen by the neurologist simply because this thing is right by his spine. Then she called me back and said that the vet didn't recommend that and that I ought to instead bring him back in for a second check. I'm not thinking that there's any need for surgery in the immediate future, but if it starts to impact his spine, then that's what we'd need to do and then the neurologist would either be the one to do it, or I'd at least probably want him in on the discussion.

They did check it and determine it's a lipoma. I wouldn't mind doing a second check of that to be sure. Regardless, it's still right by his spine, so to me, a short $70 consult with the neurologist just seems like a good idea. I could see an oncologist instead but if it's really a benign lipoma, then I don't know if that's necessary. Mostly I just really, really trust this particular neurologist and I'd like to have him in on the situation now in case it becomes a problem down the road, and also to know what to watch out for.

Gotcha.

I see what your GP vet may have thought .... she may have thought that you were considering surgery already. I understand how she would have hoped not to jump the gun about surgery at this stage.

Maybe talking with your GP vet and explaining what you've said here would be a good politic gesture. (Just a thought, and I understand that your dog is uppermost in your thoughts, of course. It might just be me, but if I were the GP vet, I might feel funny that my client hadn't even mentioned going this route, when I had made the initial diagnosis. Again, JMO.)


But moving on, here's some recent stuff:

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/adipose-lipoma-tumors/124

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23578297

http://neurosurgery.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=1123&ref=96&action=detail

http://peterdobias.com/community/2011/01/is-your-dog-lumpy-what-you-should-know-before-you-make-decisions/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21797873

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmk7VZRmT2A


I hope you will post back about what you learn.

Good thoughts going out to Dante. (BTW, Labs are on the list of the five or six breeds most prone to developing lipomas.)

Thanks Connie - looks like I've got some reading to do tonight!

I'll definitely report back, though it may not be for a couple of weeks until I know more.

IME lipomas in the arm pits can become problematic as they enlarge. Nerves there course thru soft tissue and can become impinged or entrapped, plus the size of the lipoma, just its bulk, can begin to interfear with movement. Sometimes they do enlarge as dogs age.

The spine, on the other hand, is guarded by tough muscles, bone and sinew. A soft lipoma will likely expand away from these structures toward softer tissue.

My concern would be that all these "growths" suggest that your dog is one who "grows things" and I would fear that one day a lipoma might be a liposarcoma, or worse a ghastly fibrosarcoma.
All a long way of saying that monitoring by a competent oncologist is a good idea. Understand though, that if you see a surgeon, he's likely to recommend surgery, because leaving a "lump" can only be his mistake ---- if it's nothing, that's grand, but the one in 100 that he "left alone" is the only one that he can remember.....the one that got away.
I wish you well. Myself, I'd NOT jump into surgery. I think seeing a specialist, whether it's the neurosurgeon whom you like or somebody else with expertise is a great idea.

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

IME lipomas in the arm pits can become problematic as they enlarge. Nerves there course thru soft tissue and can become impinged or entrapped, plus the size of the lipoma, just its bulk, can begin to interfear with movement. Sometimes they do enlarge as dogs age.

The spine, on the other hand, is guarded by tough muscles, bone and sinew. A soft lipoma will likely expand away from these structures toward softer tissue.

My concern would be that all these "growths" suggest that your dog is one who "grows things" and I would fear that one day a lipoma might be a liposarcoma, or worse a ghastly fibrosarcoma.
All a long way of saying that monitoring by a competent oncologist is a good idea. Understand though, that if you see a surgeon, he's likely to recommend surgery, because leaving a "lump" can only be his mistake ---- if it's nothing, that's grand, but the one in 100 that he "left alone" is the only one that he can remember.....the one that got away.
I wish you well. Myself, I'd NOT jump into surgery. I think seeing a specialist, whether it's the neurosurgeon whom you like or somebody else with expertise is a great idea.

bump to current

Thanks Betty. I think I'm going to keep the appointment with the neurosurgeon on the 8th simply because it's a good time for me to be able to go and I might have a hard time rescheduling it. I might go to my regular vet again before then to have it re-checked but I haven't decided yet (it'll depend a bit on when I can get in).

I'll keep you guys posted, and thanks again for the good info and advise. I really appreciate it.