Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pancreatic carcinosarcoma causing weight loss in a cat
By Yamamoto, R et al.·Published in Journal of comparative pathology·2012·Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Pancreatic carcinosarcoma in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 10-year-old female American shorthair cat was brought to the vet because she was losing weight. An ultrasound revealed a mass in her abdomen, and surgery showed that the mass was in her pancreas, along with other tumors in her uterus and diaphragm. The tumors were identified as a rare type of cancer called carcinosarcoma, which has both epithelial and mesenchymal (connective tissue) components. Unfortunately, this type of cancer can be aggressive, and the cat's prognosis may not be good.
People also search for: cat weight loss · pancreatic cancer in cats · carcinosarcoma in cats · cat abdominal mass treatment
Abstract
A 10-year-old female American shorthair cat was presented for evaluation of weight loss. An intra-abdominal mass was found on ultrasonography and laparotomy was performed. The mass was located in the left uterine horn and further masses were found in the pancreas, greater omentum and diaphragm. Microscopical examination revealed that the pancreatic mass had epithelial and mesenchymal components, which on immunohistochemistry expressed cytokeratin and vimentin, respectively. In addition, some spindle cells expressed vimentin and E-cadherin, which might suggest epithelial to mesenchymal transition. In contrast, the uterine, omental and diaphragmatic masses had only mesenchymal composition. The pancreatic lesion is proposed to be a primary carcinosarcoma with metastasis of only the mesenchymal component to distant sites. This the first report of pancreatic carcinosarcoma in a cat.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22520812/