Hi Lee, that was a wonderful thing to offer Amber a home despite the melanoma diagnosis and I'm glad she's settled in well. If the near by lymph node is metastatic, then it is almost certain that it will be elsewhere. It would not be wise to look at removal of the recurrence and node as preventing spread - the benefit will be in delaying the time for either site to be a problem for her, or for improving the success of treatments controlling the tumour elsewhere in the body. Vaccines, carboplatin and metronomic therapies are appropriate for some dogs. You did the right thing getting xrays done, but note that they will pick up metastatic disease at around 7mm in diameter - this is many many millions of cancer cells. If the lymph node is not confirmed to be melanoma, then this should be your first step. A needle aspirate is quick, simple and relatively painless for a node and is reasonably reliable for detecting this cancer. I hope this helps and that things go well for Amber!
_________________ _______________ Dr Ken Wyatt BSc BVMS FANZCVS Specialist Veterinary Oncologist Perth Veterinary Oncology
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