Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with kidney tumors found to have heart muscle cancer too
By Schreeg, M E et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2019·North Carolina State University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cardiac Leiomyosarcoma in a Cat Presenting for Bilateral Renal Neoplasia.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old female domestic longhair cat was brought to the vet after a right kidney mass was found on an X-ray. Further tests revealed that she had a similar mass in her left kidney, and she was treated conservatively for about a month. Unfortunately, her health worsened, and she was humanely euthanized. A post-mortem exam showed that she had cancer in both kidneys and a large tumor in her heart, which had spread to her lungs. The diagnosis was cardiac leiomyosarcoma, a type of cancer affecting smooth muscle.
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Abstract
A 10-year-old neutered female domestic longhair cat was presented to a tertiary care veterinary hospital for evaluation of a right renal mass that was identified incidentally on abdominal radiographs and classified further as a sarcoma based on fine needle aspiration cytology. Further diagnostic workup, including ultrasound and cytology, identified a sarcoma in the left kidney. After approximately 1 month of conservative medical management, the clinical condition deteriorated and the cat was humanely destroyed. Post-mortem examination confirmed bilateral renal masses with multifocal infarction and extensive necrosis, and further identified a large mass at the apex of the heart as well as multiple pulmonary nodules. Microscopical examination of the masses identified a population of poorly-differentiated neoplastic spindle cells, consistent with sarcoma. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed smooth muscle actin and muscle-specific actin, but were negative for myoglobin and factor VIII. Phosphotungstic acid-haematoxylin staining was unable to identify cross-striations in the neoplastic cells. Based on these results and the pattern of lesion distribution, the cat was diagnosed with cardiac leiomyosarcoma with pulmonary and bilateral renal metastasis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31103054/