Proposing Clinicopathological Staging and Mitotic Count as Prognostic Factors for Canine Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are a heterogeneous group of malignant mesenchymal tumors with similar histological features and biological behaviors. They are characterized by a low to moderate local recurrence rate and low metastasis, affecting approximately 20% of patients. Although this tumor set is vital in veterinary medicine, no previous unified staging system or mitotic count has been associated with patient prognosis. Therefore, this study proposed a new clinicopathological staging method and evaluated a cut-off value for mitosis related to the survival of dogs affected by STS. This study included 105 dogs affected by STS, treated only with surgery, and a complete follow-up evaluation. The new clinicopathological staging system evaluated tumor size (T), nodal involvement (N), distant metastasis (M), and histological grading criteria (G) to categorize the tumor stage into four groups (stages I, II, III, and IV). The proposed tumor staging system was able to differentiate patients' prognoses, with dogs with stage IV disease experiencing the lowest survival time and dogs with stage I disease having the highest survival time (p < 0.001). Moreover, we assessed the median mitosis (based on mitotic count) and its association with overall survival. Our study's median mitosis was 5, and patients with ≤5 mitoses had a higher survival time (p = 0.006). Overall, the proposed staging system and mitotic count seemed promising in the prediction of patient prognosis.

A Comparative in Silico Analysis of CD24's Prognostic Value in Human and Canine Prostate Cancer.

CD24 is a cell surface molecule anchored by glycosyl-phosphatidyl-inositol and expressed by different human cancers, including prostate cancer (PC). Some studies have demonstrated that CD24 expression is associated with poor patient outcome; however, few studies have investigated CD24 expression in spontaneous animal models of human PC, such as canine PC. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of CD24 in human PC using the in silico analysis of the data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and comparing it with the previously published prostatic canine transcriptome data. In addition, CD24 expression was confirmed by immunohistochemistry in an independent cohort of canine prostatic samples and its prognostic significance assessed. The systematic review identified 10 publications fitting with the inclusion criteria of this study. Of the 10 manuscripts, 5 demonstrated a direct correlation between CD24 overexpression and patient prognoses. CD24 expression was also associated with PSA relapse (2/5) and tumor progression (1/5). However, the in silico analysis did not validate CD24 as a prognostic factor of human PC. Regarding canine PC, 10 out of 30 normal prostates and 27 out of 40 PC samples were positive for CD24. As in humans, there was no association with overall survival. Overall, our results demonstrated a significant CD24 overexpression in human and canine prostate cancer, although its prognostic value may be questionable. However, tumors overexpressing CD24 may be a reliable model for new target therapies and dogs could be used of a unique preclinical model for these studies.

Tumor-infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes and macrophages are associated with prognostic factors in triple-negative canine mammary complex type carcinoma.

This study aimed to evaluate the association of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells and tumor-infiltrating macrophages (TIMs) with the clinical parameters of female dogs harboring mammary gland tumors. Thirty female dogs affected with mammary carcinomas were used, and all tumors were histologically classified as complex carcinoma and were triple-negative phenotype determined by immunohistochemistry. Freshly frozen sections were used to determine CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by immunohistochemistry, and TIMs were determined by immunofluorescence assays. Ten out of the 30 dogs showed lymph node metastasis at diagnosis. Fifteen dogs had a tumor of grade I (15/30), nine (9/30) had a tumor of grade II and six (6/30) had a tumor of grade III. The mean overall survival was 680.5 days (± 200.4). Dogs with sentinel lymph node positivity (10/30) (P = .0035) and dogs that developed metastasis (P = .0001) showed a shorter survival time. In addition, dogs with a high level of inflammatory infiltrate in tumor tissues presented a shorter survival time (P = .0001) than that of other dogs. Dogs with tumors containing higher numbers of CD3+ T cells (P = .001), CD4+ T cells (P = .001), or TIM cells (P < .0001) showed a shorter survival time than that of other dogs. Our results suggested that characteristics of immune cell infiltrates, including CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and TIMs, can be used as potential prognostic indicators for predicting clinical outcomes in dogs with mammary gland tumors, particularly tumors with a complex histological subtype and triple-negative phenotype.

Long-Term Survival of a Cat with Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Urinary Bladder.

Primary bladder leiomyosarcoma was diagnosed in a four-year-old, mixed-breed, spayed female cat that presented with lethargy, stranguria, polyuria, hematuria, urinary incontinence and abdominal sensitivity. On abdominal ultrasound, the urinary bladder was observed to have a preserved anatomical position and a hyperechoic mass. The mass measured approximately 1.5 cm, was irregular, and arose from the mucosa of the bladder wall. Due to the evidence of a primary tumor in the urinary bladder, we conducted a partial cystectomy with a 1.0 cm surgical margin and performed histopathology and immunohistochemistry. The histopathology revealed a poorly differentiated malignant neoplasm, characterized by the proliferation of spindle cells with moderate nuclear pleomorphism, suggestive of leiomyosarcoma. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the histopathological diagnosis, showing positive staining for vimentin, desmin and alpha-smooth muscle actin and negative staining for S100, pan-cytokeratin and MyoD1. We also assessed the proliferative index by Ki67 staining and found that 57% of the neoplastic cells were positive for Ki67. We conducted clinical follow-ups every three months in the first year and every six months thereafter. The patient showed no signs of recurrence after 48 months. The surgery was sufficient to treat the leiomyosarcoma, and adjuvant chemotherapy was not necessary in this case.