Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Longer survival in cats with oral cancer linked to p16 protein levels
By Munday, J S et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2019·School of Veterinary Science·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Increased p16, but not p53, immunostaining is predictive of longer survival time in cats with oral squamous cell carcinomas.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study looked at cats with oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), a type of cancer that affects the mouth. It found that the location of the tumor and the presence of a protein called p16 can help predict how long a cat might live after diagnosis. Cats with oropharyngeal SCCs lived an average of 151 days, while those with other types of SCCs had shorter survival times. Cats with tumors that showed strong p16 staining had a median survival time of 87 days, which was better than those with weaker p16 staining. This information can help veterinarians provide better prognoses for cats with this type of cancer.
People also search for: cat oral cancer prognosis · feline squamous cell carcinoma treatment · p16 protein in cat cancer
Abstract
Although oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are common in cats there are currently few prognostic markers for these cancers. This study used 52 feline oral SCCs to determine if prognosis can be predicted by the age or sex of the cat, the presence of bone within the diagnostic sample, or the anatomic location of the SCC. Additionally, as p16protein (p16) and p53 are prognostic for human oral SCCs, p16 and p53 immunostaining was evaluated. Only SCC location and p16 immunostaining were prognostic. Cats with oropharyngeal SCCs had an estimated median survival time (MST) of 151 days which was significantly longer than cats with maxillary (51 days P = 0.017), sublingual (33 days P = 0.011) and mandibular (34 days P = 0.029) SCCs. Overall, 19% of oral SCCs were p16-positive with intense nuclear and cytoplasmic immunostaining within most neoplastic cells, 69% had cytoplasmic immunostaining that was confined to the periphery of nests of neoplastic cells, and 12% had no p16 immunostaining. Cats with p16-positive SCCs had a MST of 87 days, which was significantly longer than cats with p16-peripheral SCCs (MST 37 days, P = 0.03), but not longer than cats with p16-negative SCCs (MST 51 days, P = 0.72). No papillomaviral DNA was amplified from the p16-positive SCCs. Twenty (39%) SCCs contained immunostaining for p53, but this was not prognostic (P = 0.31). These results suggest that feline oral SCCs develop by cellular mechanisms that result in one of three patterns of p16 immunostaining. Cancers which develop due to these mechanisms appear to have different clinical behaviors and p16 immunostaining predicts the behavior of these common feline cancers.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113565/