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 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1213]