Hematologic abnormalities and flow cytometric immunophenotyping results in dogs with hematopoietic neoplasia: 210 cases (2002–2006)

Background: Growing interest in veterinary oncohematology has facilitated the recent development and advancement of new techniques, such as flow cytometry, for immunophenotyping hematopoietic neoplasia in animals. Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to characterize hematologic abnormalities and flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI) results in cases of hematopoietic neoplasia in dogs. Methods: Signalment, CBC data, and FCI results were obtained for 210 dogs with blood samples submitted to our laboratory. Immunophenotyping was carried out using an Epics XL‐MCL flow cytometer and a panel of 10 antibodies (CD45, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD79, CD21, CD14, CD34, CD41/61, CD61). The prevalence and severity of hematologic abnormalities was determined for the different types of hematopoietic neoplasms. Results: Based on cell morphology and phenotype, cases were classified as: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, n=51), acute myeloid leukemia (AML, n=33), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL, n=61), and leukemic high‐grade lymphoma (L‐HGL, n=65). Most cases of ALL (47/51) and L‐HGL (41/65) had a B‐cell phenotype, while most cases of CLL (54/61) had a T‐cell phenotype, with a high prevalence of the large granular lymphocyte subtype (49/61). Anemia was found in 85% of all cases and was significantly more severe in ALL and AML compared with CLL and L‐HGL. Neutropenia was seen in 64–78% of acute leukemias (AML and ALL) in contrast to no cases of CLL and 11% of L‐HGL. Thrombocytopenia was seen in 88–90% of acute leukemias in contrast to 15% of CLL and 40% of L‐HGL. Thrombocytopenia was more prevalent (71% vs 22%) and significantly more severe in T‐cell vs B‐cell L‐HGL. Conclusion: A standard CBC is useful in suggesting the type of hemoproliferative disorder and may also help to predict the phenotype, especially in cases of L‐HGL.     

Prospective evaluation of flow cytometric characteristics,histopathologic diagnosis and clinical outcome in dogs with naïve B‐cell lymphoma treated with a 19‐week CHOP protocol

Canine B‐cell lymphoma is a clinically heterogenous disease; however, it is generally treated as a single disease entity. The purpose of this clinical trial was to prospectively evaluate naïve canine B‐cell lymphoma patients using histopathology, flow cytometry (FC) and a standardized chemotherapy protocol to better define subsets of this disease that may respond differently to treatment. Sixty‐four dogs with naïve multicentric B‐cell lymphoma were treated with a standardized 19‐week CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) chemotherapy protocol. Most of the dogs (84.3%) were diagnosed with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL), followed by nodal marginal zone (7.8%), small B‐cell (4.7%), Burkitt‐like (1.6%) and follicular lymphoma (1.6%). FC confirmed the diagnosis of B‐cell lymphoma in all cases. There were no clear phenotyping differences between the subtypes of B‐cell lymphoma detectable by our FC panel. The histologic subtypes in this study exhibited a range of forward scatter values on flow cytometry, but all of the DLBCL cases were higher than a value of 469, while the only cases with a lower forward scatter value were follicular lymphoma and diffuse small B‐cell lymphoma. Dogs with DLBCL had a significantly better objective response rate to the CHOP protocol (96.3%) than the non‐DLBCL subtypes (70%, P = .024). The median progression‐free survival time for patients with DLBCL (233 days) was significantly longer than that of all other histopathologic subgroups combined (163 days, P = .0005).     

Canine,feline, and equine corneal vascular neoplasia: A retrospective study (2007‐2015)

Corneal vascular neoplasms (hemangioma and hemangiosarcoma) are rare in all species. Reported cases are single case reports in a single species. Archived cases of corneal hemangioma and hemangiosarcoma from dogs, cats, and horses were obtained from the Comparative Ocular Pathology Lab of Wisconsin (COPLOW, Madison, WI), tabulated, and examined. This retrospective study describes the breeds, ages, tumor types, and characteristics of vascular neoplasms that appeared to be primarily corneal in location, in feline, canine, and equine patients, with gross and histologic images. There is a discussion of predisposing factors and speculated association with chronic ocular surface disease.