Cutaneous peripheral nerve sheath tumors in 15 dogs

Ko, Seung-Bo; Song, Kyoung-Ok; Kang, Sang-Chul; Kim, Jae-Hoon

doi:2014.54.1.7

Korean J Vet Res > Volume 54(1); 2014 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Veterinary Research 2014;54(1):7-12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14405/kjvr.2014.54.1.7 Published online March 25, 2014.

Cutaneous peripheral nerve sheath tumors in 15 dogs

Seung-Bo Ko¹, Kyoung-Ok Song², Sang-Chul Kang³, Jae-Hoon Kim¹

¹College of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Jeju National University
²Jeju Self-Governing Provincial Veterinary Research Institute
³Optipharm

Abstract

Peripheral nerve sheath tumors (PNSTs) are heterogeneous tumor groups of peripheral nerves that originate from either Schwann cells or modified Schwann cells, fibroblasts, or perineural cells. In this study, signalment and clinical data such as tumor location and size were evaluated for 15 cases of PNSTs collected from local animal hospitals. The mean age of dogs with malignant PNST was higher than that of dogs with benign PNST. Additionally, the male to female ratio in dogs with PNST was 1 : 4. In dogs with PNST, the primary sites of involvement were the hindlimb, forelimb, around the mammary glands, the neck, and the abdomen. Histiopathologic examination revealed that eight PNSTs were benign and seven were malignant. The tumor cells were composed of loosely to densely arranged interlacing bundles and wavy spindle cells arranged in short bundles, palisading, and whirling. High mitotic figures, local invasion, multifocal necrosis and atypical multinucleated giant cells were observed in malignant PNST cases. All PNSTs showed immunoreactivity for vimentin and S-100. However, only 93.3% and 73.3% were immunoreactive for NSE and GFAP, respectively. Overall, these results indicated that immunohistochemical markers such as vimentin, S-100 and NSE could help confirm the diagnosis of canine PNSTs.

Key Words: dog, immunohistochemistry, peripheral nerve sheath tumors, Schwann cell, spindle cell