Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Hypercalcemia linked to bone marrow T-cell cancer in 11 dogs
By Portanova, Alex et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2024·College of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Suspected primary bone marrow T-cell lymphoid neoplasia causing paraneoplastic hypercalcemia in 11 dogs (2014-2021).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 11 large-breed dogs, including several Golden Retrievers, were diagnosed with T-cell lymphoid cancer after showing high calcium levels and symptoms like increased thirst and urination. These dogs, aged between 4 and 8.6 years, had low blood cell counts but did not show signs of cancer in their blood or organs until bone marrow tests were performed. Treatments varied from steroids to chemotherapy, and while the average survival time was about 260 days, some dogs lived much longer. This case highlights the importance of checking bone marrow in dogs with unexplained high calcium levels and low blood cell counts.
People also search for: dog high calcium levels treatment · Golden Retriever cancer symptoms · dog bone marrow cancer diagnosis
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical findings and outcome in hypercalcemic dogs that were diagnosed with T-cell lymphoid neoplasia by bone marrow evaluation. ANIMALS: 11 client-owned dogs, identified retrospectively through 2 diagnostic laboratories between 2014 and 2021. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: Cases presented with hypercalcemia and lacked overt evidence of lymphoid neoplasia in the blood or nonmedullary tissues. T-cell lymphoid neoplasia was diagnosed once the bone marrow was investigated, using a variable combination of cytology, histology, and flow cytometry. RESULTS: The median age at presentation was 5.7 years (range, 4.0 to 8.6 years). All cases were large-breed dogs, and 4 of 11 cases were Golden Retrievers. Dogs presented most commonly for polyuria and polydipsia (72%). Eight cases had neutropenia, and 10 of 11 dogs had reported thrombocytopenia. In all cases, flow cytometry identified an expansion of neoplastic small- to intermediate-sized T cells in the bone marrow that expressed low-class-II major histocompatibility complex. Neoplastic T cells in 10 of 11 cases expressed CD4. Treatments ranged from prednisone alone to multiagent chemotherapy. The median overall survival time was 260 days (range, 25 to 792 days). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: T-cell lymphoid neoplasia diagnosed via bone marrow evaluation that may represent a unique bone marrow T-cell neoplastic entity should be considered in hypercalcemic dogs with isolated cytopenias that lack peripheral lymphocytosis, lymphadenopathy, and organomegaly. Clinical outcome in these cases was variable, which may be related to nonstandardized treatments, but a subset of patients had prolonged survival.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37922707/