Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma in two loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta.
Dis Aquat Organ
; 58(2-3): 245-50, 2004 Mar 10.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15109148
ABSTRACT
We received 2 stranded loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) with squamous cell carcinomas to necropsy. The dead turtles had been collected in Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura in April 1994 and May 1997, respectively to determine the cause of death. One turtle had 3 ulcerated lesions in the dorsal part of the neck and several irregular masses in the lungs and kidneys. Histologic examination of lesions in the skin, lungs, kidneys, and ventricular myocardium revealed neoplastic proliferation of abnormal keratinocytes. Ultrastructural examination identified the tumoral cells as epithelial cells. The second turtle had 4 lesions in the skin of the head and flippers, and several irregular masses in the lungs, liver, and kidneys. Histological examination revealed a squamous cell carcinoma with metastases to muscle tissue, liver, lungs, and kidneys. Attempts to characterize the tumoral cells by immunohistochemistry using several monoclonal and polyclonal antisera against high and low molecular weight cytokeratins from mammals, as well as vimentin and desmin, failed. Differences between reptilian keratins (mainly beta-keratins) and mammalian keratins (mainly alpha-keratins) could explain this absence of immunoreactivity. This is the first description of squamous cell carcinoma in sea turtles.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Skin Neoplasms
/
Turtles
/
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
/
Muscle Neoplasms
/
Head and Neck Neoplasms
/
Kidney Neoplasms
/
Liver Neoplasms
/
Lung Neoplasms
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Dis Aquat Organ
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
MEDICINA VETERINARIA
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
Year:
2004
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain