Primary diaphragmatic undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in a cat.

CASE SUMMARY: A 5-year-old neutered female domestic shorthair cat was referred for acute onset of dyspnoea. Thoracic radiographs performed by the referring veterinarian revealed the presence of pleural effusion. Upon presentation, the cat was dyspnoeic, and cardiopulmonary auscultation revealed muffled heart sounds and bilaterally increased bronchovesicular sounds. Radiographic study of the thorax revealed bilateral pleural effusion and a soft tissue opacity in the dorsocaudal region of the left hemithorax. A whole-body contrast-enhanced CT scan identified a soft tissue mass arising from the left diaphragmatic crus. Transthoracic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the mass was performed and the result was consistent with a malignant mesenchymal neoplasia, showing giant cells. Cytoreductive surgery was performed and the histopathology diagnosis of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was made. Adjuvant chemotherapy was then offered. Ten days after surgery pleural effusion recurred. Thoracic echography revealed the presence of a diaphragmatic thickening in the area of surgical resection. FNA of the thickening was consistent with mesenchymal neoplasia. Even when chemotherapy and supportive treatment with pain relief was instituted, the clinical condition of the cat worsened within a few days and it was euthanased 1 month after surgery. RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION: Primary diaphragmatic tumours (PDTs) have been rarely reported in human and in veterinary medicine, where only three cases have been described in the dog. To our knowledge, this is the first report to describe a PDT, specifically an undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, in a cat.

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).

HPV-Specific Systemic Antibody Responses and Memory B Cells are Independently Maintained up to 6 Years and in a Vaccine-Specific Manner Following Immunization with Cervarix and Gardasil in Adolescent and Young Adult Women in Vaccination Programs in Italy.

: Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infections are associated with cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases and tumors. Thus, the characterization of long lasting immunity to currently available HPV vaccines is important. A total of 149 female subjects vaccinated with Cervarix or Gardasil participated to the study and they were stratified according to age (10-12-year-old and 16-20-year-old). Humoral immune responses (IgG and neutralizing antibody titers, antibody avidity) and circulating memory B cells were analyzed after an average of 4-6 years from the third immunization. The humoral responses against HPV-16 and HPV-18 (and HPV-6 and HPV-11 for Gardasil) were high in both age groups and vaccines up to six years from the third dose. However, Cervarix induced significantly higher and more persistent antibody responses, while the two vaccines were rather equivalent in inducing memory B cells against HPV-16 and HPV-18. Moreover, the percentage of subjects with vaccine-specific memory B cells was even superior among Gardasil vaccinees and, conversely, Cervarix vaccinated individuals with circulating antibodies, but undetectable memory B cells were found. Finally, a higher proportion of Cervarix-vaccinated subjects displayed cross-neutralizing responses against non-vaccine types HPV-31 and HPV-45. Gardasil and Cervarix may, thus, differently affect long-lasting humoral immunity from both the quantitative and qualitative point of view.