Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with mammary cancer and blood clotting problems
By Jaillardon, Laetitia et al.·Published in Veterinary clinical pathology·2012·Department of Biology and Pathology, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Mammary gland carcinoma in a dog with peripheral blood and bone marrow involvement associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old female Leonberger was brought to the vet after 2 days of not eating and bleeding. She had previously had a mammary mass removed, but it wasn't tested for cancer. During the exam, the vet found she was depressed, had pale gums, and showed signs of bleeding under her skin. Tests revealed she had low platelet counts and signs of a serious blood clotting issue related to cancer. Unfortunately, due to her worsening condition and poor prognosis, the dog was euthanized.
People also search for: dog mammary cancer symptoms · Leonberger bleeding problems · dog not eating and bleeding · mammary tumor treatment in dogs
Abstract
A 7-year-old female Leonberger dog was referred to the National Veterinary School of Lyon Teaching Hospital with a 2-day history of anorexia and bleeding. A mammary mass had been removed 7 months earlier, but histologic examination was not performed. On physical examination, the dog was depressed and had pale mucous membranes and numerous petechiae and hematomas. Significant laboratory findings were moderate thrombocytopenia, prolonged prothrombin, activated partial thromboplastin, and thrombin times, hypofibrinogenemia, and increased concentration of fibrin(ogen) degradation products. A peripheral blood smear, buffy coat preparation, and bone marrow aspirate contained low numbers of large atypical cells that had moderate nuclear:cytoplasmic ratios, oval nuclei with multiple prominent nuclei, and basophilic cytoplasm with villous projections. A small nodule was found in the left inguinal mammary gland, and a fine-needle aspirate contained cells similar to those in blood and bone marrow. In samples of blood, bone marrow, and the mammary mass, the neoplastic cells were immunoreactive for cytokeratin. The diagnosis was mammary carcinoma with secondary disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow and circulating tumor cells in blood; this diagnosis was not confirmed by histopathologic examination. Owing to clinical deterioration and the poor prognosis, the dog was euthanized and a necropsy was not performed. This is the first report of a canine mammary carcinoma with circulating tumor cells and secondary DIC.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22671287/