Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with melanoma spreading to brain lining and bone marrow
By Kim, D Y et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2009·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Disseminated melanoma in a dog with involvement of leptomeninges and bone marrow.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 11-year-old Black and Tan Coonhound was brought to the vet because he had been limping on his right hind leg for two months. The vet initially suspected he had a type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma, but tests revealed he actually had melanoma, a type of skin cancer that had spread to his bones, lungs, lymph nodes, and even his brain. Unfortunately, the cancer was widespread, and the dog passed away shortly after the diagnosis. This case highlights how melanoma can present in unusual ways in dogs, sometimes mimicking other conditions.
People also search for: dog limping · Black and Tan Coonhound cancer symptoms · melanoma in dogs treatment
Abstract
An 11-year-old, Black and Tan Coonhound dog was presented with a history of lameness of the right hind leg for 2 months, osteolysis in the right distal femur, a pulmonary mass, and a presumptive diagnosis of osteosarcoma. By cytologic examination, neoplastic melanocytes were noted from fine needle aspirates of the femoral and pulmonary masses. Postmortem examination revealed a disseminated melanoma involving the right femoral bone marrow, lung, multiple lymph nodes, and adrenal gland, with diffuse infiltration of the leptomeninges of the brain and spinal cord. This case report describes a unique presentation of canine melanoma, which in some ways resembles leptomeningeal melanomatosis, a rare human melanoma variant.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19112120/