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Carcinocythemia: First report in a cat and literature review
Author(s) -
Sá e Lemos Eva,
Lima de Carvalho Hugo,
Gil da Costa Rui M.,
Pinto da Cunha Nazaré
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
veterinary clinical pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1939-165X
pISSN - 0275-6382
DOI - 10.1111/vcp.12565
Subject(s) - anisocytosis , pathology , histopathology , lethargy , leukocytosis , neutrophilia , malignancy , medicine , nodule (geology) , adenocarcinoma , biology , cancer , paleontology , anemia
Abstract A 6‐year‐old female neutered European Shorthair cat was presented with a 2‐day history of lethargy and hyporexia. On physical examination, the cat was slightly depressed and had a 2.5 cm nodule in the left 3 rd mammary gland. The hemogram revealed mild leukocytosis with mature neutrophilia and moderate thrombocytopenia. On blood smear evaluation, rare pleomorphic cells, possibly of epithelial origin, were observed mainly at the feathered edge. The animal died about 12 hours after presentation, and a necropsy was performed. On histopathology, the mammary nodule was diagnosed as a tubulopapillary adenocarcinoma with vascular invasion and widespread metastases. Immunocytochemical tests for cytokeratins ( AE 1/ AE 3) confirmed the epithelial phenotype of the neoplastic cells observed on the blood smear. The present report describes a feline mammary carcinoma with widespread metastases and the presence of malignant epithelial cells in the peripheral blood referred to as carcinocythemia. This condition has been previously described in people and dogs. To the author's knowledge, this is the first reported case of feline carcinocythemia. As in other species, the phenomenon was associated with a terminal phase of systemic malignancy.