Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Survival in dogs with kidney cancer linked to tumor cell division rate
By Edmondson, E F et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2015·Department of Microbiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prognostic significance of histologic features in canine renal cell carcinomas: 70 nephrectomies.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 70 dogs with kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) underwent surgery to remove their affected kidneys. Many of these dogs showed symptoms like blood in their urine (hematuria) and weight loss (cachexia), which were linked to shorter survival times. The study found that the number of dividing cells in the tumor (mitotic index) was the most important factor in predicting how long the dogs would live after surgery. Dogs with a high mitotic index had a median survival of just over 6 months, while those with a low index lived nearly 3 years on average. This information can help veterinarians better understand the prognosis for dogs diagnosed with this type of cancer.
People also search for: dog kidney cancer symptoms · renal cell carcinoma prognosis in dogs · treatment for dog kidney tumors
Abstract
The prognostic significance of histologic and clinical features was evaluated in a retrospective study of 70 dogs treated with nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. Dogs presenting with hematuria and cachexia had significantly decreased overall and tumor-specific survival. Mitotic index (MI), nuclear size, nuclear pleomorphism, tumor differentiation, invasiveness, Fuhrman nuclear grade, and clear cell morphology were significantly associated with survival times (overall and tumor specific) in univariate analyses. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was constructed using stepwise selection to evaluate potential histologic predictor variables. This multivariate analysis revealed MI, defined as the number of mitotic figures in ten 400× fields, as the sole independent prognostic variable. Median survival for dogs with an MI >30 was 187 days compared with 1184 days for dogs with an MI of <10. Dogs with an intermediate MI of 10 to 30 had a median survival of 452 days. Canine renal carcinomas were categorized into the following subtypes based on histologic features and histochemical and immunohistochemical staining: (1) clear cell, (2) chromophobe, (3) papillary, and (4) multilocular cystic renal cell carcinomas. Clear cell carcinoma was diagnosed in 6 of 70 (9%) canine tumors and was associated with a significantly decreased median survival time. Papillary carcinomas were identified in 15 of 70 tumors (21%), chromophobe in 6 of 70 (9%), and the multilocular cystic variant of canine renal cell carcinoma in 3 of 70 tumors (4%). These findings facilitate uniform categorization of canine renal cell carcinoma and provide veterinary pathologists with criteria to determine prognostic information.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24829287/