wondering if he also had cancer in his mouth as well since he had quite a lot of dental problems in the past two years.

My Scottie dog who died on August 27th at the age of 11 years old was frequently having problems with his teeth over the past two years.  He had several teeth removed in 2009 as well as this year, May 2011.  My question is that
could it be possible that since he died of a maligant stomach tumor in the lining of his stomach, could he have gotten this from his teeth such as possibly he could have had mouth cancer and it spread to his stomach or vice versa?  The reason why I suspect this is because prior to him getting sick with his stomach he always seemed to have some sort of problem with his teeth such as being in discomfort with his mouth/tooth or teeth in some way or another.  Could there be a possible link between the two problems?  It also seems that this came out of nowhere with his teeth problems and so did the stomach problem.  I would like your advice into this matter.  What are the symptoms of mouth cancer in dogs?  Does it often spread to the stomach lining?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

I am so sorry about the loss of your dog!

There is a correlation between chronic inflammation and the progression of cancer which is poorly understood.  Dental disease can cause severe chronic inflammation which can lead to a variety of different serious medical conditions including kidney, liver and heart disease, as well as cancer.  Additionally,  although no cancer was identified in your dogs mouth at any time the severe inflammation in his mouth could have contributed to or aided the formation of many different diseases including cancer.

The most common symptom of mouth cancer in dogs are masses located anywhere in any tissues of the mouth, gums, etc.