Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Low PTEN protein linked to worse mammary tumors in dogs and cats
By Ressel, L et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2009·Department of Animal Pathology, Italy·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Reduced PTEN protein expression and its prognostic implications in canine and feline mammary tumors.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 24 dogs and 17 cats with mammary tumors (breast tumors) to see how a protein called PTEN affected their health. They found that about one-third of the dogs and three-quarters of the cats had low levels of PTEN, which was linked to more aggressive tumors and worse outcomes. In dogs, losing PTEN was associated with a higher chance of the cancer spreading and shorter survival times. This suggests that checking PTEN levels could help veterinarians predict how serious a dog's mammary tumor might be and guide treatment decisions.
People also search for: dog mammary tumor prognosis · cat breast cancer treatment · PTEN protein in canine tumors
Abstract
Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) belongs to the group of gatekeeper tumor suppressor genes and is involved in multiple mechanisms leading to cellular defense against neoplastic transformation and progression. Twenty-four dogs and 17 cats were submitted to a 2-year follow-up study, and clinicopathologic features were recorded and compared with immunohistochemical PTEN staining. PTEN-negative status occurred in 33% of canine and 76% of feline mammary carcinomas. In canine mammary carcinomas, there was a significant (P < .05) correlation between loss of PTEN protein expression and simple carcinoma histotype, lymphatic vessel invasion, lymph node metastases, distant organ metastases, tumor dedifferentiation, tumor recurrence, and shorter overall survival. In feline mammary tumors, a significant correlation between loss of PTEN protein expression and lymphatic vessel invasion was found. Loss of PTEN expression could be a useful prognostic marker in canine mammary carcinomas.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19429983/