Molecular Markers in Urinary Bladder Cancer: Applications for Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy.

Cancer of the urinary bladder is a neoplasm with considerable importance in veterinary medicine, given its high incidence in several domestic animal species and its life-threatening character. Bladder cancer in companion animals shows a complex and still poorly understood biopathology, and this lack of knowledge has limited therapeutic progress over the years. Even so, important advances concerning the identification of tumour markers with clinical applications at the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic levels have recently been made, for example, the identification of pathological BRAF mutations. Those advances are now facilitating the introduction of targeted therapies. The present review will address such advances, focusing on small animal oncology and providing the reader with an update on this field. When appropriate, comparisons will be drawn with bladder cancer in human patients, as well as with experimental models of the disease.

Carcinocythemia: First report in a cat and literature review.

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 3rd 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 (AE1/AE3) 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.