Hepatic Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma in a Dog.

A 5-year-old spayed female Breton dog was referred for a thyroid nodule. A total body CT scan evidenced multifocal hepatic nodules. Cytological liver samples were hemodiluted and non-diagnostic. Following a thyroidectomy, the histology was consistent with a follicular-compact thyroid carcinoma. On laparoscopy, most hepatic lobes had multifocal dark-red nodules that were biopsied for histology. Microscopically, the hepatic parenchyma in the nodules was substituted by blood channels lined by bland spindle cells but adjacent to epithelioid neoplastic cells, single or in clusters, embedded in a moderate amount of edematous collagen matrix. These cells had optically empty cytoplasmic space, occasionally containing erythrocytes (microlumina). Spindle and epithelioid cells expressed membranous-to-cytoplasmic CD31 and FVIII-RA consistent with endothelial origin. Based on morphology and immunolabelling, a hemangioendothelioma with epithelioid differentiation was diagnosed. Lesions in the liver were initially stable, showing progression with time. The dog was alive with no systemic clinical signs 36 months after laparoscopy.

Quality of life assessment in cancer patients receiving single-agent versus multidrug chemotherapy protocols.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) is an essential factor in therapeutic decision-making for human patients and is commonly used as an endpoint in clinical trials of cancer treatments. AIM: To compare owners' perception of QoL in canine and feline patients affected by different tumor histotypes treated with single-agent or multidrug protocols. METHODS: Owners were asked to assess the impact on QoL of their pets undergoing chemotherapy treatment by answering a questionnaire and assigning a score to different health-related parameters reported to affect QoL. RESULTS: Questionnaires of 101 patients (85 dogs and 16 cats), collected at different time points, were analyzed. Fifty-seven patients were given single-agent chemotherapy (carboplatin, doxorubicin, lomustine, melphalan, mitoxantrone, vinblastine, and vinorelbine), whereas 44 were given multiple-agent treatment. When diverse factors including chemotherapy treatment type (single-agent vs. multidrug regimens) and the onset and kind of adverse effects were considered, no significant variations in owners' perceptions of their pets' QoL were discovered. CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy type (single-agent vs. multidrug protocol) and related adverse events are shown, which did not influence owners' perception of their pet's QoL.Future prospective studies should look into clinical characteristics that might affect QoL, such as the patient's age, tumor stage, and protocol purpose (curative vs. palliative).