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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Large-cell lung cancer diagnosed in 8-year-old female Wire Fox Terrier

By Buendia, A J et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2008·Departamento de Anatomia y Anatomia Patol&#xf3, Spain·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Immunohistochemical characterization of a pulmonary large-cell carcinoma in a dog.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

An 8-year-old female Wire Fox Terrier was euthanized after she did not improve with antibiotic treatment for breathing problems. X-rays showed a diffuse pattern in her lungs, and further tests revealed she had a rare type of lung cancer called pulmonary large-cell carcinoma. This type of cancer is uncommon in dogs, and the diagnosis was confirmed through special staining techniques that showed the tumor cells were of epithelial origin. Unfortunately, despite the diagnosis, there were no effective treatments available for her condition.

People also search for: dog lung cancer symptoms · Wire Fox Terrier breathing problems · treatment for dog pulmonary tumors

Abstract

Primary pulmonary tumors are less common in dogs than secondary (metastatic) tumors. Most primary tumors are malignant and of epithelial origin. Pulmonary large-cell carcinoma is considered extremely rare in domestic animals, and some of the few reported cases actually may have been cases of malignant pulmonary histiocytosis. An 8-year-old female Wire Fox Terrier with diffuse alveolar pattern radiographically was euthanatized when it failed to respond to antibiotic therapy. Histologically, pulmonary alveolar spaces contained clusters of large round anaplastic cells with ample eosinophilic cytoplasm and large irregularly shaped nuclei with prominent nucleoli. Immunohistochemistry was used to distinguish large-cell carcinoma from malignant pulmonary histiocytosis. Tumor cells had strong immunoreactivity for cytokeratin, consistent with epithelial origin. However, a substantial percentage of the neoplastic cells co-expressed vimentin and MHC-II. The type II alveolar epithelial cell was considered the cell of origin of the neoplasm based on the presence of lamellar bodies in some neoplastic cells and immunoreactivity for surfactant protein A and thyroid transcription factor-1.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18587094/