Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Primary malignant liver tumors in older cats and their symptoms
By Brandstetter, Viktoria et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2023·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Feline primary nonhematopoietic malignant liver tumours: A multicenter retrospective study (2000-2021).
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old cat was diagnosed with a malignant liver tumor after showing signs of not eating well, lethargy, weight loss, and vomiting. The most common type of tumor found was hepatocellular carcinoma. The cat underwent surgery to remove part of the liver, which is known as a liver lobectomy, and this treatment led to a significantly longer survival time compared to cats that did not have surgery. While some cats experienced complications or recurrence of the disease, those that had the surgery generally had a better outcome, living an average of about 375 days after the procedure.
People also search for: cat liver tumor symptoms · feline liver surgery recovery · malignant liver tumor treatment in cats
Abstract
There is scant literature on primary nonhematopoietic malignant liver tumours (PMLT) in cats. In this retrospective study, medical data of 40 cats diagnosed with PMLT were reviewed over a period of 22 years (2000-2021). The most frequent epithelial tumours were hepatocellular (42.5%) and bile duct carcinomas (32.5%), only six (15%) cats had mesenchymal tumours. The median age was 13 years and clinical signs commonly included ano-/hyporexia (62.5%), apathy/lethargy (52.5%), weight loss (42.5%) and vomiting (35%). At initial diagnosis, metastases were confirmed in 1 (2.5%) and suspected in three (7.5%) cats. Massive was the most frequent morphology (75%). Most intrahepatic tumours were left-sided (54.2%) with the left medial lobe being primarily affected (25%). Extrahepatic tumours were rare (5%). In 34 (85%) cats, liver lobectomy was performed (surgery group), four (10%) were treated palliatively (non-surgery group), and two (5%) received no treatment. Intraoperative complications occurred in 11.8% with four (15.4%) postoperative deaths. Recurrence was detected in 28.6% at a median of 151 days (range, 79-684 days), while postoperative metastases were suspected in 21.4% at a median of 186 days (range, 79-479 days). The median survival time (MST) was significantly longer in cats of the surgery group (375 days) than in the non-surgery group (16 days) (p = .002). MST was 868 days for hepatocellular compared to 270 days for bile duct carcinomas (p = .06). In summary, liver lobectomy is associated with prolonged survival times and good prognosis in cats with hepatocellular, and an acceptable prognosis in cats with bile duct carcinoma.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36635958/