Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline leukemia virus infection dropped in cats with lymphoma
By Meichner, K et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2012·Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Changes in prevalence of progressive feline leukaemia virus infection in cats with lymphoma in Germany.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that a significant number of cats with lymphoma were also infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV), especially in the earlier years of the study. Between 1980 and 1994, 59% of lymphoma cases were linked to FeLV, but this dropped to just 13% from 1995 to 2009. Cats with FeLV were typically younger and responded to treatment for a shorter time compared to those without the virus. This suggests that other factors may now play a larger role in causing lymphoma in cats.
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Abstract
Progressive infection with feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is considered one of the major risk factors for development of feline lymphoma. The aim of this study was to compare cats with lymphoma between 1980 and 1994 (first period) and between 1995 and 2009 (second period) concerning FeLV antigenaemia and age distribution. In addition, differences between FeLV antigen-positive and antigen-negative cats with lymphoma regarding patients' characteristics, tumour location and outcome were evaluated. There was a significant decrease in the percentage of lymphoma cases associated with progressive FeLV infection from the first (59 per cent) to the second (13 per cent) observation period. FeLV antigen-positive cats were significantly younger (median 3.7 v 11.3 years), and had significantly shorter response duration (median 25 days v 472 days) with therapy. In the cats of the second period, gastrointestinal and extranodal lymphomas were the most common anatomical sites, and the majority of those cats were FeLV antigen-negative. Thus, other aetiologies than progressive FeLV infection must have a greater impact on cancerogenesis among affected cats with lymphoma to date.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22915682/