To Julie, Larry, and Misty
 
>I have waitied almost one month already and the vet told me to come
>back at the end of June and maybe the results would be in by then.
>Can anyone out there tell me why it takes so long to determine if a
>tumor is malignant or benign  --Dr Williams?  Also, she was reported
>to have an internal adrenal cyst that she was born with. What causes
>these cysts and can they be harmful or cancerous?
 
    Julie - Yes a month is a LOOOOONG time for a simple biopsy.  You
might check which lab he sent it to, and call them yourself to see if
it has been done.  I know I'm behind on some of my ferret cases, but
I'm not charging anything for those....(I'll get back to them after I
finish teaching my course next week, I promise - thanks anyone who is
being patient....)
 
    It only takes a moment to tell whether it is benign or malignant -
based on the appearance of the cells, whether there is invasion of the
blood vessels in the area by the tumor, etc., and it really seems to
make little difference in the prognosis in most of the cases.  The
malignant tumors act very benign....
 
    As far as cysts are concern - they are very common in ferrets and
really don't mean anything at all.   As we say - they are clinically
insignificant....
 
Bruce Williams
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[Posted in FML issue 1213]