‘No person can be blamed for refusing to read another word of what promises to be a mere imposition upon his credulity.’ Julian West, a feckless aristocrat living in fin-de-siècle Boston, plunges into a deep hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000. America has been turned into a rigorously centralized democratic society in which everything is controlled by a humane and efficient state. In little more than a hundred years the horrors of nineteenth-century capitalism have been all but forgotten. The squalid slums of Boston have been replaced by broad streets, and technological inventions have transformed people’s everyday lives. Exiled from the past, West excitedly settles into the ideal society of the future, while still fearing that he has dreamt up his experiences as a time traveller. Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward (1888) is a thunderous indictment of industrial capitalism and a resplendent vision of life in a socialist utopia. Matthew Beaumont’s lively edition explores the political and psychological peculiarities of this celebrated utopian fiction.

Cutaneous and subcutaneous mast cell tumours are common neoplasms in the dog. While the majority can be treated with adequate local therapy alone, a subset demonstrates a biologically aggressive behaviour associated with local recurrence or metastasis. This article reviews the diagnosis and tumour staging of canine mast cell tumours alongside treatment options and the evidence supporting their use. In addition, prognostic markers are evaluated to highlight how one can recognise mast cell tumours that may behave in a biologically aggressive manner as well as the challenges of tumours that are large, infiltrative or in locations not amenable to wide surgical excision. Increased prevalence of MCT diagnosis Decreased prevalence of MCT diagnosis Boxer Jack Russel terrier Golden retriever Border Collie Weimaraner Cocker spaniel Labrador retriever West Highland white terrier Pug Yorkshire terrier Staffordshire Bull terrier German shepherd dog MCT mast cell tumour Canine mast cell tumours: a review

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Case summary An 11-year-old female spayed domestic shorthair cat was referred with a 2-month history of ptyalism, hyporexia and weight loss. Physical examination revealed reduced body condition score (2/9) and decreased skin turgor. Laboratory abnormalities included mild erythrocytosis, elevated creatine kinase, hypercobalaminaemia and hypofolataemia. CT of the head and abdominal ultrasonography were within normal limits. Gastroesophagoscopy revealed mucosal ulceration and possible stenosis of the distal oesophagus. Thoracic radiographs and iodine oesophagram showed a soft tissue opacity in the caudodorsal thorax compatible with a parietal oesophageal mass causing luminal stenosis or an extra-parietal mass causing ventral displacement and compression of the oesophagus. Pulmonary nodules were observed in the cranial lung lobes. CT of the thorax confirmed the oesophageal origin of the mass and the presence of pulmonary nodules scattered throughout the lung parenchyma. The patient was euthanased given the imaging findings and perceived guarded prognosis. Post-mortem examination revealed multifocal nodular lesions affecting the oesophagus, lungs, kidneys and pancreas. Histopathological examination identified atypical round cells characterised by eosinophilic cytoplasm and pale nuclei with prominent nuclear grooves, compatible with neoplastic histiocytic cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed strong expression for CD18, Iba-1 and vimentin. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated intracytoplasmic organelles consistent with Birkbeck granules of Langerhans cell origin in lesional histiocytes. These findings were compatible with a diagnosis of disseminated Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Relevance and novel information To our knowledge, this is the first report of disseminated Langerhans cell histiocytosis with oesophageal involvement in a cat.

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