Among the evaluated clinicopathologic biomarkers, serum albumin, cardiac troponin I, CRP/Hpt, urinary albumin, and urinary total protein to creatinine ratio were found to predict outcome and warrant evaluation in larger prospective studies.

Lymph node (LN) metastasis is a negative prognostic factor in dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors (cMCTs). While elective lymphadenectomy of metastatic LNs improves outcome, the benefit of adjuvant medical therapy in dogs with early metastatic (HN2) LNs is debated. The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to evaluate the therapeutic benefit of adjuvant medical therapy following surgical removal of the primary low-grade cMCT (Patnaik grade 1-2 and Kiupel low-grade) and lymphadenectomy of HN2 LNs by analyzing survival rates and patterns of recurrence.Seventy-three dogs were included: 42 received adjuvant medical treatment (chemotherapy and/or kinase inhibitors), and 31 did not. The median followup time for medically-treated dogs was 619 days: 2 experienced local recurrence, 3 nodal relapse and 4 distant relapse.For dogs undergoing surgery only, the median follow-up time was 545 days.None of them experienced local recurrence, nodal or distant relapse. Time to progression was significantly shorter in dogs receiving adjuvant medical treatment (P = 0.021). A similar tendency was observed for overall survival (P = 0.056).The current study shows that dogs with low-grade cMCTs, that undergo surgical excision of the primary tumor and elective lymphadenectomy of the HN2 regional LN harbor a good prognosis. The use of adjuvant medical treatment in these dogs does not seem to provide any benefit in terms of progression and survival.

Feline large granular lymphocyte (LGL) lymphoma is an uncommon subtype of lymphoma characterized by a grave prognosis and scarce response to chemotherapy. There are limited reports on clinico-pathological and prognostic factors. One-hundred and 9 cats with newly diagnosed LGL lymphoma that underwent initial staging (including hematology, serum biochemistry, thoracic radiographs and abdominal ultrasound), and followed-up were retrospectively evaluated. LGL lymphoma was localized within the gastrointestinal tract with or without extra-intestinal involvement in 91.7% of the cases, and at extra-gastrointestinal sites in 8.3%. Symptoms were frequent. Anemia (31.2%) and neutrophilia (26.6%) were commonly observed, and 14 (12.8%) cats had neoplastic circulating cells. Frequent biochemistry abnormalities included elevated ALT (39.4%) and hypoalbuminemia (28.4%). Twenty (54.1%) of 37 cats had elevated serum LDH. Treatment varied among cats, and included surgery (11%), chemotherapy (23%), corticosteroids (38.5%) and no treatment (27.5%). Median time to progression (MTTP) was 5 days, and median survival time (MST) 21 days. MST was significantly shorter in the case of substage b, circulating neoplastic cells, lack of chemotherapy administration, and lack of treatment response. A small subset of cats (7.3%) survived more than 6 months, suggesting that a more favorable clinical course can be found among LGL lymphoma patients.

No abstract

Treatment options for dogs with metastatic (stage III) splenic hemangiosarcoma are limited. A doxorubicin-based chemotherapy regimen is commonly administered; however, there are no published data to support this practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of maximum-tolerated-dose chemotherapy (MTD), metronomic chemotherapy (MC) and no adjuvant treatment on outcome in dogs with stage III splenic hemangiosarcoma undergoing splenectomy. Medical records of dogs with stage III splenic hemangiosarcoma that underwent splenectomy followed by MTD chemotherapy, MC or no adjuvant treatment were retrieved. Time to progression (TTP), survival time (ST) and toxicity were evaluated. One hundred three dogs were identified: 23 received adjuvant MTD, 38 MC and 42 were not medically treated.Overall median TTP and ST were 50 (95% confidence interval [CI], 39-61) and 55 days (95% CI, 43-66), respectively. Dogs treated with adjuvant MTD had a significantly longer TTP and ST compared with dogs receiving MC (median TTP, 134 vs 52 days, P = .025; median ST, 140 vs 58 days, P = .023, respectively). Dogs treated by splenectomy only had the shortest median TTP (28 days) and ST (40 days). However, treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were significantly more frequent in the MTD group (P = .017). The outcome for dogs with metastatic splenic hemangiosarcoma is poor. While MTD showed greater efficacy compared to MC, toxicity was higher in this group. Treatment-related AEs need to be carefully balanced against this modest survival prolongation when offering adjuvant MTD to dogs with advanced stage hemangiosarcoma. K E Y W O R D S dog, hemangiosarcoma, maximum tolerated chemotherapy, metastasis, metronomic chemotherapy, prognosis

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis can be challenging to diagnose in cats. Retrospectively, we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic potential of serum amyloid A (SAA), a major feline acute-phase protein (APP), in a population of critically ill cats with SIRS related to trauma or sepsis. A total of 56 SIRS cats (trauma n = 27; sepsis n = 29) were included and compared with healthy controls ( n = 18). SAA concentration was significantly increased in SIRS cats compared to controls, confirming its potential for the detection of systemic inflammation in this species. Significantly higher values of SAA were detected in cats belonging to the sepsis group; however, according to the results of the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the value of using SAA (>81 mg/L) to discriminate septic cats was only moderate (AUC = 0.76). Additionally, cats with sepsis had significantly higher serum bilirubin concentrations and toxic neutrophil changes compared to the trauma group. Overall, 38 of 56 cats were survivors; 18 of 56 were non-survivors, with 83% of the non-survivors (15 of 18) belonging to the sepsis group. Serum bilirubin concentration, but not SAA, was able to predict outcome. Prospective studies are needed to assess the potential of SAA in the diagnosis of feline sepsis and outcome prediction.

There is little information on sequence variation of canine adenovirus type 1 (CAdV-1), the aetiological agent of infectious canine hepatitis (ICH). This study reports hexon and fibre gene sequence variants of CAdV-1 in a dog with systemic ICH and a dog with the ocular form of the disease ('blue eye') in Northern Italy in 2013. One of the sequence variants matched a CAdV-1 fox sequence previously detected in Italy.

In canine cutaneous mast cell tumours (cMCTs), histologic grade and clinical stage are the most important prognostic factors, with high‐grade tumours and metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) significantly influencing the evolution of disease. However, it is uncertain whether histologic grade and clinical stage should be given equal weighting value in patient prognostication and management. Dogs with low‐ and high‐grade cMCTs and at least one overtly metastatic sentinel LN undergoing standardized treatment, consisting of surgical excision of the cMCT, lymphadenectomy and chemotherapy, were retrospectively included. The aim was to determine whether, at the same clinical stage, histologic grade retained prognostic relevance. Sixty dogs were included: 26 had a high‐grade cMCT tumour and 34 had a low‐grade cMCT. Median follow‐up was 367 days (range, 187–748) in the high‐grade group, and 1208 days (range, 180–2576) in the low‐grade group. Median time to progression was significantly shorter in the high‐grade group than in the low‐grade group (214 days versus not reached; p < .001), as well as tumour‐specific survival (545 days versus not reached; p < .001). On multivariable analysis, a high histologic grade and incomplete margins retained prognostic significance for both tumour progression and tumour‐specific death. In dogs with cMCT and at least one overtly metastatic LN undergoing multimodal treatment, histologic grade significantly correlated with outcome. Overall prognosis was not unfavourable, even in the high‐grade group, further supporting that a multimodal therapeutic approach, addressing primary tumour and sentinel LN, should be offered. Whether chemotherapy should be incorporated in the therapeutic planning of low‐grade cMCTs remains to be defined.