Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Malignant Sertoli cell tumor in the retained abdominal testis of a unilaterally cryptorchid horse.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 2003
- Authors:
- Pratt, Suzanne M et al.
- Affiliation:
- Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old Morgan gelding was found to have a mass in his abdomen, which led to further investigation. It turned out that he had a testis that had not descended properly, hidden in the abdominal area, and this testis was diagnosed with a malignant Sertoli cell tumor, a type of cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer had spread to other parts of his body, including the liver, spleen, lungs, and nearby lymph nodes. Testicular tumors like this are rare in horses, and while there have been a few cases reported, most involve testes that have descended. In this case, the prognosis was not good due to the spread of the cancer.
Abstract
A 13-year-old Morgan gelding was evaluated because of a mass in the caudal region of the abdomen. The horse had been presumed to be a gelding, but necropsy findings revealed a retained testis in the right retroperitoneal space. Histologically, the retained testis contained neoplastic cells; metastases were identified in the liver, spleen, lungs, and sublumbar lymph nodes. Immunohistochemical examination of the testis and metastatic tissues confirmed the diagnosis of malignant Sertoli cell tumor. Testicular neoplasms are infrequently reported in stallions. Seminomas are most commonly reported, whereas Sertoli cell tumors are considered to be rare. Typical biological behavior of Sertoli cell tumors in horses is unknown. To the authors' knowledge, there have been 2 reports of Sertoli cell tumors in horses; the tumors developed in descended testes, and 1 tumor was malignant.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12597422/