This, says the company, highlights a missed opportunity for earlier cancer detection, which in turn limits the ability of veterinary teams to improve medical outcomes for their patients.
243 veterinary professionals took part in the survey, most of whom HT Vista says were general practitioners.
On average, they reported seeing 13.5 dermal and subcutaneous masses per vet per week, less than six of which lead to a diagnosis.
HT Vista says around 15% of these lumps will be malignant.
Veterinary oncologist Gillian Dank said: “Every week, thousands of dogs leave practices with undiagnosed masses.
"While many are benign, others are malignant, and delaying diagnosis can mean lost treatment opportunities and poorer prognoses.”
The number one reason why respondents said they don't test more widely is the assumption that a mass is benign by its gross characteristics, followed by owner concerns around cost, time constraints during consultations, and limited access to in-house cytology.
Vista HT Chief Commercial Officer Asher Fink and Managing Director Liron Levy-Hirsch will be presenting “20 dogs in your waiting room with lumps and bumps – how do you spot the 3 with cancer?" at the London Vet Show on 20th November from 1–1:50pm in Exhibitor Showcase Theatre 2
https://info.ht-vet.com/lump-and-bump-survey-results
https://www.cliniciansbrief.com/continuing-education/syllabus/lesson/cracking-code-lumps-bumps-fast-efficient-diagnosis-everyday-practice
https://london.vetshow.com/conference-programme-2025/session-title-coming-soon-38
Photo: www.depositphotos.com
The new resource is designed to help dog owners understand the risks of cancer, recognise the importance of early detection, and learn how HT Vista’s cancer detection device supports veterinary teams in screening suspicious masses.
It includes guidance on the early warning signs of cancer in dogs and explains how acting quickly can improve outcomes.
Dr Liron Levy-Hirsch, Veterinary Surgeon and Managing Director at HT Vista said: “We believe informed pet owners are key to driving earlier diagnosis.
"This new page is all about bridging the gap between innovative veterinary technology and the people it’s designed to support.
"By empowering pet owners with clear and trustworthy information, we hope to strengthen understanding of the diagnostic process, support clinical decision-making, and ultimately help more dogs receive timely treatment.”
www.ht-vet.com/petowners
The new platform offers video tutorials, podcasts, webinars, scientific studies, blogs and downloadable resources, all designed to ensure users understand how the HT Vista screening device can support their day-to-day work.
Users can also ask for a free one-on-one training call with HT Vista for personalised guidance.
HT Vista’s Managing Director, Liron Levy-Hirsch said: “We’re excited to introduce this new platform for veterinary professionals alongside our latest diagnostic update to the device.
"Our goal with HT Vista Academy is to support users in expanding their expertise, not just in operating the device but also in understanding the technology behind it and learning the best practice of dermal and subcutaneous mass management.
"By offering valuable educational resources and hands-on support, we hope to enhance the overall experience for veterinary teams and, ultimately, the care they provide to their patients.”
The company says the screening device is being widely used in nurse clinics around the world and its academy is suitable for both vets and veterinary nurses.
www.ht-vet.com/academy
The update includes a new scoring system of low, moderate or high cancer risk which replaces the original numerical HDI scores and simplifies interpretation for clinicians, making the screening process easier to communicate with pet owners.
HT Vista says the device can now categorise cancer risk levels, based on malignant probability, with a sensitivity of 90% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 98%.
The company says this translates to a “low cancer risk” result having a malignant probability of 10% or less, allowing veterinary teams to rule out cancer of lumps and bumps without the need for invasive procedures.
The tool can also now provide alerts for some of the low-risk cases, identifying them as lipomas, sebaceus adenomas or benign epithelial masses.
Liron Levy-Hirsch DVM MRCVS, Managing Director at HT Vista, said: "I am incredibly excited to enhance our already powerful HT Vista screening tool with a new diagnostic capability, providing veterinary teams with an even more comprehensive decision-support system.
"Our screening technology has already been a game-changer in early detection, and now, with the ability to flag specific tumour types, we are taking another significant step forward.
"This advancement empowers veterinary professionals to make even more informed decisions, supports shared decision-making with pet owners, and ultimately improves patient outcomes.
"By reducing the time from suspicion to diagnosis and treatment, we can detect cancer earlier, avoid the ‘wait and see’ approach, and help save more lives."
On the other end of the scale, a “high cancer risk” result has a malignant probability of 50% or more and indicates a stronger likelihood of malignancy.
HT Vista says these cases require additional diagnostic tests for mass identification.
The company highlights a big distinction between this and other screening modalities is that it can be nurse-led.
HT Vista will be on display and there will be live demonstrations at BSAVA Congress from the 20th to the 22nd of March 2025.
https://bit.ly/ht-vista-screening-tool
The HT Vista device is used by vets and vet nurses to screen dermal and subcutaneous masses on dogs.
The company says that with a negative predictive value of 98% clinicians can confidently classify a mass as benign without the need of further invasive tests.
HT Vista also says that, according to a recent client survey, the main features which practices value are the nurse-led ability which is maximising nurse clinics and streamlining efficiency, justification in sampling masses even when they feel innocuous, and the rapid speed of image acquisition and results.
To be in with a chance of winning the device and subscription, delegates must attend the 15-minute Ultra Demo at stand B300 on Friday 22nd March at 4pm.
The app allows practices to submit results along with cytology and histopathology results in order to help train the AI algorithm and improve its accuracy from an original sensitivity of 85% and negative predictive value of 97%.
Liron Levy-Hirsch, Managing Director of HT Vista, said: “The HT app has provided us with over 700 additional validated scans to analyse this year alone.
"The validation process is well controlled, whereby we use the lab results to tag the scans as benign or malignant and let the algorithm know if it was correct or not.
"The more we train the algorithm the more accurate it becomes, and it is extremely exciting to see the sensitivity increase to 90% and the NPV to 98%.”
HT Vista says the app was developed to meet demand from clinics.
Liron said: "By having a portal to upload lab results alongside the device’s results not only do we further improve the device, but we also increase confidence among our vets and nurses that the device is a reliable tool.
https://ht-vista.uk
The HT Vista device measures heat transfer rate differences between masses and adjacent normal tissues and then processes that data using machine learning algorithms to classify the masses.
The study evaluated a diverse canine population of 299 dogs with 525 cutaneous and subcutaneous masses.
In the study, the device correctly classified 45 out of 53 malignant masses and 253 out of 378 benign masses (sensitivity = 85% and specificity = 67%).
The negative predictive value of the system (i.e., percent of benign masses identified as benign) was 97%.
This study concluded that the data supports the use of the HT Vista device "as a screening tool and decision support tool for the everyday diagnosis of dermal and subcutaneous masses in general practice, enabling clinicians to differentiate between benign lesions and those requiring additional diagnostics".
Liron Levy-Hirsch, Managing Director of HT Vista’s UK subsidiary said: “We are thrilled to have scientific research validating the success of the HT Vista device.
"The veterinary teams who have already adopted the device into their practice are having great success with it, and with the backing of this newly published paper we hope to reach more practices and ultimately save more dog’s lives.”
www.ht-vet.com / www.ht-vista.uk
Reference
55 veterinary surgeons took part in the survey, which also found that only 37% of clinicians use FNA and cytology when investigating a suspected lipoma.
According to the survey, the biggest barriers to further investigations of lumps and bumps were cost (50%), short consult time (23%) and confidence in results (20%).
HT Vista, which earlier this year launched a cancer screening device for dogs which uses heat diffusion technology and AI to differentiate between benign skin masses and other tumours, is urging more practising vets to use an accurate screening process for early detection of malignant masses.
Dr. Gillian Dank, Board Certified Oncologist and Chief Veterinary Officer at HTVet, said: “There is no way to know that a mass is a lipoma based on palpation alone.
"The fact that a mass is subcutaneous, soft and circumscribed is not exclusive to lipoma and it could be a number of things including a mast cell tumour or sarcoma.
"On average a veterinary practice sees over 500 dermal and subcutaneous masses each year.
"We know anecdotally, and surveys like this confirm, that not every mass is aspirated – and that is why there is need for the HT Vista screening device.
"Every mass that comes in should be properly examined.”
“It’s interesting to see that the more experienced a clinician is, the less confident they are in diagnosing from palpation and this shows us that with experience we understand that our hands are not enough.”
Liron Levy-Hirsch, Managing Director of HT Vista, said: “The survey showed that vets are conscious of the cost to clients, and also feel pressured due to time.
"We have developed the HT Vista to complement FNA and cytology, and hope clinicians find it a useful tool.
"Firstly, it is quick and affordable to scan, and for those masses that are benign it removes the need for unnecessary FNA’s.
"Secondly, vets are often wary of cost, however if a mass is scanned and the results indicate that further investigation is needed, there is more rationale to spend the extra money to get the cytology results.
"Finally, the device can offer complete confidence that malignancies are not being missed, and if a mass is malignant a prompt treatment plan can be initiated.”
https://www.vetreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Lump-and-Bump-Survey-2023FINAL.pdf