Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High calcium levels in a dog with skin gland cancer
By Pescetelli, Ludovica Emiliani et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2026·Veterinary Clinic Giaconella, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hypercalcemia of malignancy in a dog with cutaneous apocrine gland carcinoma and malignant myoepithelioma.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old female neutered Border Collie was brought in with an ulcerated lump on her neck and high calcium levels in her blood. The vet discovered that the dog had a type of skin cancer called apocrine gland carcinoma, which was causing the elevated calcium. After surgically removing the tumor, the dog's calcium levels returned to normal. This case highlights how certain cancers can lead to high calcium levels in dogs, and surgery can be an effective treatment.
People also search for: dog skin cancer treatment · Border Collie high calcium levels · dog tumor removal recovery
Abstract
Humoral Hypercalcemia of Malignancy (HHM) is a commonly reported condition in dogs affected by several cancers, mostly T-cell lymphoma and anal sac gland carcinomas, but also other type of tumors. We report the case of a 6-years-old, female neutered Border Collie with an ulcered nodule on the right retromandibular region, that had mild serum total calcium elevation (14,1 mg/dl; reference range (RR): 8,4 to 11 mg/dl) in the absence of clinicopathological abnormalities or imaging finding suggesting any known cause of hypercalcemia. Histologically, the tumor had a tubular epithelial component, admixed with a second, dominant, myoepithelial one; immunohistochemically, the former strongly reacted with anti-Cytokeratin antibodies, while the latter had a weak and patchy immunoreactivity both to Cytokeratin and a-SMA, while Vimentin and Calponin immunostaining was strong and diffuse, suggesting the diagnosis of apocrine gland carcinoma and malignant myoepithelioma. After the excision of the tumor, calcium decreased within limits (8.8 mg/dl RR: 8.4 to 11. mg/dl). In the author's knowledge, this is the first report of HHM associated with apocrine sweat gland carcinoma in the dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41557207/