Intracranial squamous cell carcinoma in a cow

An exophthalmic right eye was surgically removed from a nine year old Holstein cow. Subsequent post mortem examination revealed a large intracranial mass at the base of the brain which was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma. The orbital and sphenoid bones were intact and it is believed that the neoplasm entered the cranial cavity from the orbit via the foramen orbitorotundum. Both intracranial squamous cell carcinoma and extension of orbital neoplasia through foramina are rare.