Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Age and location patterns of benign skin tumors in dogs
By De Moura, C et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2026·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Lusofona University·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Epidemiology of Canine Cutaneous Histiocytoma: Insights From Age and Topographic Clustering.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that young male dogs, especially French Bulldogs and Boxers, are more likely to develop a benign skin tumor called canine cutaneous histiocytoma. These tumors often appear in dogs under 2 years old and can regress on their own due to inflammation. The research showed that the incidence of this tumor is higher in specific breeds and anatomical locations. If your dog has a lump on the skin, especially if they are young and of a breed like a French Bulldog or Boxer, it's worth discussing with your vet, as these tumors are generally not harmful and may resolve without treatment.
People also search for: dog skin lump French Bulldog · Boxer tumor treatment · young dog skin problems
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Canine cutaneous histiocytoma (CCH) is a benign Langerhans-cell tumour that often regresses spontaneously via inflammation. OBJECTIVES: To estimate incidence and characterise age and breed-anatomical-site patterns using two complementary clustering analyses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 359 histopathologically-confirmed CCHs from a private veterinary laboratory in Portugal (January 2020-January 2022) were analysed with dog-population denominators from the national registry (SIAC). Incidence rates (IR) were calculated for Lisbon-Setúbal; breed- and sex-specific relative risks (RR) were estimated. Age was modelled with BIC-selected Gaussian mixtures; breed-site patterns were summarised by hierarchical clustering of site frequencies (heatmaps). RESULTS: Cases concentrated in young dogs (≤ 2 years, 48.8%) and males (58.5%). Age clustering defined three bands (≈ ≤ 1.5, 1.5-3.5, > 3.5 years) with differing breed and site distributions. Breed-site clustering revealed recurring anatomical predilections by breed and sex. The annual IR in Lisbon-Setúbal was 4.0 per 10,000 dogs (3.5 in females; 4.4 in males). Risk was highest in French bulldogs (RR 11.5; IR 34.1) and Boxers (RR 8.3; IR 24.5) versus mixed-breed dogs (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Canine cutaneous histiocytoma (CCH) shows clear age bands and breed-linked anatomical predilections; these patterns help prioritise ages, sites and breeds for studies of inflammation-mediated regression.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41937610/