Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Longer survival in cats with p16-positive nasal planum squamous cell
By Munday, J S et al.·Published in Veterinary pathology·2013·Institute of Veterinary·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The presence of p16 CDKN2A protein immunostaining within feline nasal planum squamous cell carcinomas is associated with an increased survival time and the presence of papillomaviral DNA.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that cats with nasal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a type of skin cancer, had better survival rates if their tumors tested positive for a protein called p16. In this research, 30 cats with untreated SCC were observed, and those with p16-positive tumors lived an average of 643 days, compared to just 217 days for those with p16-negative tumors. Additionally, the presence of papillomavirus DNA was more common in the p16-positive tumors. This suggests that testing for p16 could help veterinarians predict how long a cat might survive after a diagnosis of nasal SCC.
People also search for: cat nasal cancer prognosis · feline squamous cell carcinoma treatment · p16 protein in cat tumors · papillomavirus in cats · cat skin cancer survival rates
Abstract
In humans, oral SCCs are either caused by papillomavirus (PV) infection or by other carcinogens such as tobacco. As these 2 groups of SCCs have different causes they also have different clinical behaviors. Immunostaining using anti-p16(CDKN2A) protein (p16) antibodies is used to indicate a PV etiology in human oral SCCs and p16-positive SCCs have a more favorable prognosis. The present study investigated whether p16 immunostaining within feline nasal planum SCCs was similarly associated with the presence of PV DNA and with a longer survival time. Intense p16 immunostaining was visible in 32 of 51 (63%) SCCs. In 30 cats with nonexcised SCCs, cats with p16-positive neoplasms had a longer estimated mean survival time (643 days) than cats with p16-negative SCCs (217 days, P = .013). Papillomavirus DNA was amplified more frequently from p16-positive nasal planum SCCs (28 of 32) than p16-negative SCCs (5 of 19, P < .001). The different survival times in cats with p16-positive and p16-negative SCCs suggests that p16 could be a useful prognostic indicator in these common feline cancers. As the clinical behavior of the SCCs can be subdivided using p16 immunostaining, the 2 groups of SCCs may be caused by different factors, supporting a PV etiology in a proportion of feline nasal planum SCCs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22751687/