Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Challenges in Diagnosing Canine Skin Nerve Tumors Due to Molecular
By Teixeira, Sílvia et al.·Published in In vivo (Athens, Greece)·Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS)·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Molecular Heterogeneity of Canine Cutaneous Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors: A Drawback in the Diagnosis Refinement.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with skin tumors were examined to determine whether these tumors were benign or malignant. Out of 40 tumors studied, 17 were found to be benign and 23 were malignant. The malignant tumors showed higher levels of a specific protein (S-100) and had a greater rate of cell growth compared to benign ones. While diagnosing these tumors can be challenging, a marker called Ki-67 may help veterinarians understand how aggressive the tumor is. This information can assist in making better treatment decisions for dogs with these types of tumors.
People also search for: dog skin tumor treatment · canine peripheral nerve sheath tumor · Ki-67 in dog tumors · benign vs malignant dog tumors
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Peripheral nerve sheath tumors (PNSTs) belong to a very heterogeneous group of neoplasms occurring both in dogs and humans. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the histological and immunohistochemical features of canine cutaneous PNSTs contributing to further refine their diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The histopathological phenotype and biological behavior of 40 canine cutaneous PNSTs were evaluated and vimentin, S-100, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), desmin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and Ki-67 immunoreactivity were assessed. RESULTS: Respectively, 17 and 23 lesions were classified as benign and malignant PNSTs. The malignant lesions were more often positive for S-100 and presented a proliferation index significantly higher when compared to the benign ones (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The differential diagnosis of PNST on routine stained samples is difficult and the immunohistochemical examination may contribute to the final diagnosis. However, these lesions present a complex histogenesis and show very variable individual features; thus, an unequivocally immunohistochemical panel that could have supported the PNST diagnostic was not achieved. Nevertheless, we concluded that Ki-67 can be a useful marker helping to discriminate the biological behavior of canine PNST.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27815467/