Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with cancer cells in blood causing leukemia-like illness
By Amati, M et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2012·Ospedale Veterinario Città, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Carcinocythaemia (carcinoma cell leukaemia) in a dog: an acute leukaemia-like picture due to metastatic carcinoma.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old female boxer was brought to the vet after showing signs of not eating and being unusually tired for two weeks, along with a nosebleed that lasted two days. Tests revealed serious blood clotting issues, and a blood smear showed unusual cancer cells. A bone marrow exam confirmed that these cancer cells were spreading throughout her body. Unfortunately, due to the poor outlook for recovery, the decision was made to euthanize her. The diagnosis was a rare type of cancer called carcinoma cell leukemia, which is not commonly seen in dogs.
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Abstract
An eight-year-old entire female boxer was presented with a two-week history of anorexia and lethargy and two-day history of unilateral left epistaxis. Clinical findings and laboratory test results suggested disseminated intravascular coagulation. On blood smear evaluation, occasional large epithelioid-like unclassified cells were detected. Occasionally these cells were organised in small clusters. Bone marrow examination revealed a marked infiltration by a malignant population of the same epithelioid-like cells. The dog was euthanased because of the guarded prognosis. Following histology and immunohistochemistry, a widespread undifferentiated carcinoma of unknown primary origin was diagnosed. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of carcinoma cell leukaemia reported in a dog. Carcinoma cell leukaemia is a rare oncological condition previously described in humans, characterised by non-haematopoietic neoplastic cells in peripheral blood.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22783807/