Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Measuring c-KIT mRNA in dog skin mast cell tumors and prognosis
By Seung, Byung-Joon et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2021·Department of Veterinary Pathology, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: In situ c-KIT mRNA quantification of canine cutaneous mast cell tumours and its relationship to prognostic factors.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at skin tumors called mast cell tumors (MCTs), which are common in dogs. Researchers found that measuring the levels of a specific gene (c-KIT) in these tumors could help predict how aggressive the cancer might be. They discovered that higher levels of c-KIT mRNA were linked to more severe tumor grades and faster cell growth. This suggests that checking c-KIT levels could be useful for veterinarians when assessing the prognosis for dogs with MCTs. More research is needed to confirm these findings in a larger group of dogs.
People also search for: dog skin tumor prognosis · mast cell tumor treatment in dogs · c-KIT gene in canine cancer
Abstract
Cutaneous mast cell tumours (MCTs) are the most frequent malignant skin tumours in dogs. Mutations in the c-KIT proto-oncogene are correlated with the pathogenesis and aggressiveness of MCTs. To date, studies have focused on c-KIT mutations and KIT protein localization, with a general lack of mRNA-level analyses. In this study, c-KIT mRNA expression was investigated in canine MCTs by RNA in situ hybridization (RNA-ISH). Furthermore, we evaluated associations between c-KIT mRNA expression and the histological grade, KIT immunohistochemical staining pattern and other clinicopathological parameters. c-KIT mRNA expression was observed in all MCT samples, appearing as clusters of dots in the cytoplasm of neoplastic cells. A significant correlation was detected between c-KIT mRNA expression (quantified according to the H-score and the percentage of positive cells) and the histological grade (determined using two-and three-tier grading systems; P < .05). We also found a significant positive correlation (all P < .05) between c-KIT mRNA expression and the proliferation indices (mitotic index, Ki-67, and Ag67). However, no significant associations with c-KIT expression from RNA-ISH were found with respect to different KIT staining patterns. Overall, these results demonstrate that c-KIT mRNA expression might be an additional tool for measuring the c-KIT status in canine cutaneous MCTs and could serve as a potential prognostic factor. Further studies should evaluate the prognostic significance of c-KIT mRNA expression in a large and uniform cohort of canine MCTs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32926564/