We have a friend whose mixed breed dog turned up with mast cell cancer about five years ago. They found a vet cancer specialist a couple of hours away and spent thousands on surgery, radiation and medications, not to mention time and money for travel to all those follow-up appts.The dog survived and is still here, although he's getting old. He had a number of good years, before age began to take over. Our friend would do it all again. Would we, if it was one of our dogs? No. We would've made her comfortable and let her go when it was the right time. That being said, isn't it nice when we have a choice? Our friend does not regret the decision or the expense in the least.