Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Why some dog skin tumors shrink on their own
By Pires, Isabel et al.·Published in Anticancer research·2013·Department of Veterinary Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Regression of canine cutaneous histiocytoma: reduced proliferation or increased apoptosis?
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog with a skin tumor called a cutaneous histiocytoma was studied to understand why these tumors often shrink on their own. Researchers looked at how fast the tumor cells were growing and how many were dying off. They found that while the cells were dying more often than they were multiplying, this alone didn't explain why the tumors got smaller. The study suggests that a balance between cell growth and death is important for the tumor to regress.
People also search for: dog skin tumor treatment · canine cutaneous histiocytoma · why is my dog's tumor shrinking
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Canine cutaneous histiocytoma (CCH) is a tumour that undergoes spontaneous regression. The aim of this study was to establish a possible relationship between regression of CCH and tumoural cell proliferation and apoptosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunostaining with Ki-67 antigen and the terminal deoxytransferase (TdT) deoxyuridine-5'-triphosphated (dUTP) nick-end labelling (TUNEL) method were performed on 93 specimens of CCH, grouped into four histological groups. RESULTS: The proliferative index evaluated with Ki-67 antigen expression was on average 23.56 ± 7.91%. The apoptotic index determined by the TUNEL method was on average 39.37 ± 5.87%. Neither the proliferative nor apoptotic index differed between histological groups. Moreover, the proliferative and apoptotic indices did not correlate significantly. However, apoptotic activity was higher than proliferative activity in almost all tumours. CONCLUSION: A reduction of proliferation or an increase of apoptosis does not appear to justify regression of CCH. However, our results suggest that an imbalance between cell proliferation and apoptotic cell death plays a significant role in spontaneous regression of CCH.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23564778/