Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Body condition score and adiponectin in dog mammary cancer progression
By Tesi, Matteo et al.·Published in Veterinary medicine and science·2020·Department of Veterinary Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Role of body condition score and adiponectin expression in the progression of canine mammary carcinomas.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that overweight and obese female dogs with mammary cancer had a shorter survival time compared to those with a normal weight. The researchers looked at 73 dogs with different types of mammary tumors and assessed their body condition score (BCS), which measures body fat. They discovered that a higher BCS was linked to more aggressive tumors, but the type of diet (homemade versus commercial) did not affect survival. Overall, maintaining a healthy weight may be important for better outcomes in dogs with mammary cancer.
People also search for: dog mammary cancer survival · overweight dog cancer prognosis · homemade diet for dog with cancer
Abstract
Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for developing breast cancer in post-menopausal period in humans and has been suspected to be associated with a worse prognosis also in the bitch. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between body condition score (BCS) and the prognosis of canine mammary carcinomas (CMCs) and the relationships between adiponectin expression and tumour behaviour. Seventy-three bitches with tubular, tubulopapillary, solid or complex carcinomas were included in the present study. For each dog, evaluation of BCS was conducted using a nine-point BCS system and the study population was divided into normal weight (4-5/9 points; n = 42), overweight (6-7/9 points; n = 19) and obese (8-9/9 points; n = 12). Type of diet (commercial, homemade or mixed) was recorded. After surgical excision, histological type, tumour size and nodal status were assessed and adiponectin expression was determined and quantified by immunohistochemistry and morphometric analysis. CMC histotype was not correlated with BCS, while a positive correlation between BCS and histological grade (p < .01) was observed. Overweight and obese bitches combined showed a shorter cancer-specific survival than normal weighted bitches (p < .01). Bitches fed with a homemade diet had a higher BCS than dogs fed with a commercial one, although no relationship was observed between diet and  cancer-specific survival. Thirty-six CMCs scored positive for adiponectin expression (49%), but no correlation was found between the hormone expression and either CMC characteristics or prognosis. In conclusion, a higher BCS seems to be related with a higher prevalence of more aggressive CMCs and negatively affects the survival time in bitches with these mammary tumours.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32202386/