Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Squamous cell cancer in the throat and mouth of pet parrots
By Gonzalez-Astudillo, Viviana et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2021·University of California-Davis, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Alimentary squamous cell carcinoma in psittacines: 12 cases and review of the literature.
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
A group of pet birds, including Amazon parrots, cockatiels, macaws, a conure, and a Senegal parrot, were diagnosed with alimentary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a type of cancer affecting the digestive tract. Common symptoms included regurgitation, difficulty swallowing, breathing problems, lethargy, and weight loss. The cancer was found in various parts of the digestive system, often leading to severe inflammation and ulceration. Unfortunately, despite treatment, many of the birds had poor outcomes due to the aggressive nature of the disease and complications from infections.
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Abstract
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which is a neoplasm that usually arises from the integument, is reported uncommonly in pet birds. Only a few reports of SCCs in the alimentary tract of birds, including psittacines, have been published, and a detailed description of the pathology is not available in the literature. We present here 12 cases of alimentary SCC in psittacines. The average age of the birds was 22.2 y (range: 15-29 y), and affected species included 4 Amazon parrots (sp.), 3 cockatiels (), 3 macaws (sp.), 1 conure (sp.), and 1 Senegal parrot (sp.). Frequent clinical complaints included regurgitation, dysphagia, dyspnea, lethargy, and/or weight loss. SCC primarily affected the oral cavity in 6 of 12 cases, the crop alone in 2 of 12 cases, the crop and esophagus in 1 of 12 cases, the proventriculus alone in 1 of 12 cases, and the crop, esophagus, and proventriculus in 2 of 12 cases. Histologically, alimentary SCCs were locally invasive and often resulted in mucosal ulceration. Although there were no metastases in any of our cases, poor clinical outcomes were frequent and associated most commonly with complete effacement of the alimentary segment and severe inflammation with opportunistic bacterial infection. Our review of the literature records commonly affected species, variability of gross presentations and clinical signs, plausible etiologies, and current diagnostic developments.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34078200/