Dr. Lera Clone explains penile (preputial) tumors in dogs using a clinical case (Rusty) who underwent oral surgery and, while anesthetized, had a biopsy taken of a preputial mass. The most commonly discussed tumor is transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), typically seen in intact, sexually active younger dogs and usually non‑metastatic but often requiring surgical excision. Other possible tumors mentioned include mast cell tumor, squamous cell carcinoma, and perianal (gland) adenoma. Biopsy (excisional or incisional) is emphasized as the definitive diagnostic method; fine-needle aspirate is unlikely to give a definitive diagnosis or tumor behavior. The preputial/penile area is very vascular; post-biopsy bleeding is expected for about two to three days. Penile amputation may be required for some tumors; dogs can live normally afterward but may urinate by squatting and require perineal wiping due to a higher urethral incision. Results of Rusty’s biopsy will guide further treatment.
Questions this video answers
January 29, 2021
Transmissible venereal tumor (TVT)
Intact (not neutered), younger, sexually active dogs
No — usually not metastatic
About two to three days
Chapters
Hey, guys. Dr. Lara here today. I am here with Rusty. Rusty came in today because he was having some oral surgery, because I had noticed that he had some fractured teeth. But the actual reason for the video today is for what we call penile tumors, or preputial tumors. The prepuce is the sheath that the penis is protected in. And so it was something that mom had wanted me to go ahead and take a look at when he was in for the physical exam, for looking at his mouth. You guys can tell Rusty already had surgery today, so he's kind of drunk, which is expected. But the most common penile tumor is going to be what we call tbt, which is transmissible. Transmissible venereal tumors. And most of the time, it is not something that is what we call metastatic, meaning it won't spread to the rest of the body, but it is something that is usually requires surgical excision. It is usually seen in dogs that are intact, meaning they have their testicles and younger dogs, reason being is because those dogs are usually ones that are sexually active. And so, you know, usually dogs that are neutered are less likely to be out and about, and usually the older males are usually less likely to be out and about as well. Now, for us to get an actual diagnosis of what this is typically, you're either going to have to remove the tumor, which sometimes can require a penile amputation. So since Rusty was under anesthesia for his mouth today, what we did was we went ahead and collected a biopsy of the mass so that way we could go ahead before doing a penile amputation. We have a better idea of what's actually going on with him. Now, that being the case, when you collect a biopsy from around the penis or of the penis, that is something that can be very. It's a very, very vascular area, meaning there's a lot of blood supply there. And so one of the things expect after either if you have a biopsy done is to expect blood coming out of either the penis or the prepuce. It'll be hard to tell whether or not it's coming out of the penis or the prepuce. So, you know, that's something that typically I would anticipate should resolve in about two or three days, just because that's the amount of time that the body will take. It is something that, you know, some of the other common tumors in the area could be what we call the mast cell tumors. Mast cell tumors are one of the most, if not, if my memory serves me correctly, the most common tumor that is seen in dogs. The other ones are squamous cell carcinomas. And sometimes, even more rarely, we can see something called a perianal adenoma. Perianal gland adenoma. And so in this particular patient, what we're going to do is we're going to send those biopsies out. Once we get the biopsy results back, then we can go ahead and make a determination as to how we want to move forward and whether we're just going to leave the growth alone or if it's something that we need to go ahead and remove. Now, at the end of the day, the only way that you're going to know for a fact whether or not whatever it is that's growing there or to get a diagnosis is going to be a biopsy. There might be some people that might talk about sticking a needle in it, which sounds painful to me, and that's separate from the fact that I'm a guy. But also because with doing a fine needle aspirate, you very rarely will get a diagnosis. And even in the cases that you do get a diagnosis, it's only it's not going to tell you the behavior of the tumor, meaning whether or not the tumor is reproducing very, very quickly, if it's growing really fast, or if it's something that is growing slowly. So. So the biopsy will tell you those characteristics and will let you know about that. Otherwise, in regards to the penile amputation, normally dogs will be able to live a normal life afterwards. They will end up having to have a procedure where they do a, they make an incision higher up along the urethra. And so normally with these males, a lot of times what they may end up doing is they may end up squatting to urinate afterwards. It does require some more maintenance in regards to wiping them after they urinate, but they are able to live a relatively normal life afterwards. And most dogs actually don't even care that they had an amputation of their penis. They just know that they probably feel a lot better and that everything seems to be working fine. So if you guys have any questions about this video, please leave it in the comment box. If you found this video helpful, please give us a thumbs up. If you really want to help us out, subscribe and or share the video with somebody who needs to subscribe. See this. Thanks a lot for watching. Have a great day and be safe.
