Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline leukemia virus found in cat spinal cord lymphoma
By Szilasi, Anna et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2020·Department of Pathology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: In situ hybridization of feline leukemia virus in a primary neural B-cell lymphoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old male outdoor cat was brought in because he was experiencing weakness and paralysis in his back legs. Despite various tests, including MRI, the cause of his symptoms remained unclear until he tested positive for feline leukemia virus (FeLV). Unfortunately, the cat had to be euthanized, and a postmortem examination revealed he had a type of cancer called primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in his spinal cord, along with bleeding in that area. The study highlighted the presence of FeLV in the tumor cells, which may have contributed to the cat's condition.
People also search for: cat hindlimb weakness · feline leukemia virus symptoms · cat spinal cord cancer treatment
Abstract
An 8-y-old castrated male, outdoor European shorthair cat was presented with a history of hindlimb weakness and paralysis. Disease progression was continuous from the onset; deep algesia disappeared at the final stage. Radiography of the vertebral column was unremarkable; along with patient history and physical examination results, magnetic resonance imaging suggested inflammatory lesions in the spinal cord, although neoplasia could not be ruled out. Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) positivity was confirmed by a serum ELISA prior to euthanasia. Upon postmortem examination, hemorrhages were present in the spinal cord at the level of vertebrae T7-8. Histologic and immunohistochemical analysis revealed primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the spinal cord with multifocal myelomalacia and hemorrhages. To determine the presence of a pathogen within the lesion, we developed a novel in situ hybridization protocol for FeLV (RNAscope). The reaction revealed large amounts of FeLV viral RNA in the tumor cells.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32274976/