Systemic mastocytosis is a rare phenomenon, with limited information regarding prognostic features and effective treatment of canine patients with this disease. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of certain features and treatments on dogs with systemic mastocytosis. The medical records of 40 dogs from 4 northeastern US veterinary hospitals, with evidence of systemic mast cell disease, were evaluated retrospectively. Variables analysed with relation to overall survival and prognostic significance included treatment protocol used, substage, presence of a cutaneous or visceral tumour, presence of multiple cutaneous Mast cell tumours, grade of the primary tumour and metastatic site(s). Dogs with metastatic disease confined to distant lymph nodes lived longer than those with circulating mast cells in the blood (P = .001), and those with metastatic disease evident in more than 2 sites had a worse prognosis than those with disease in a single location (P = .005). Additionally, administration of chemotherapeutic agents led to increased survival over prednisone therapy alone (P = .008), with the combination of lomustine, vinblastine and prednisone prolonging survival over the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, toceranib phosphate (P = .002). Presence of mast cells in the blood and/or evidence of disease in more than 2 sites indicate widespread dissemination suggesting their use as negative prognostic features. Furthermore, a chemotherapy protocol including combination lomustine and vinblastine therapy may be more effective than toceranib phosphate for the treatment of dogs with disseminated mast cell disease. Overall, patients with systemic mastocytosis have a grave prognosis and more effective treatment options are needed.

Abstract. Limitations of current medical procedures for detecting early lung cancers inspire the need for new diagnostic imaging modalities for the direct microscopic visualization of lung nodules. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) provides for subcellular resolution imaging of intrinsic fluorescence from unprocessed tissue with minimal optical attenuation and photodamage. We demonstrate that MPM detects morphological and spectral features of lung tissue and differentiates between normal, inflammatory and neoplastic lung. Ex vivo MPM imaging of intrinsic two-photon excited fluorescence was performed on mouse and canine neoplastic, inflammatory and tumor-free lung sites. Results showed that MPM detected microanatomical differences between tumor-free and neoplastic lung tissue similar to standard histopathology but without the need for tissue processing. Furthermore, inflammatory sites displayed a distinct red-shifted fluorescence compared to neoplasms in both mouse and canine lung, and adenocarcinomas displayed a less pronounced fluorescence emission in the 500 to 550 nm region compared to adenomas in mouse models of lung cancer. These spectral distinctions were also confirmed by two-photon excited fluorescence microspectroscopy. We demonstrate the feasibility of applying MPM imaging of intrinsic fluorescence for the differentiation of lung neoplasms, inflammatory and tumor-free lung, which motivates the application of multiphoton endoscopy for the in situ imaging of lung nodules.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an uncommon, rapidly progressive neoplasm in dogs. The aim of this retrospective study was to characterize the clinical presentation, haematologic findings, diagnostic imaging results, treatment and survival time of a contemporary cohort of dogs with AML. Diagnosis was based on >20% blasts in bone marrow or blood identified as myeloid based on morphologic findings, flow cytometric immunophenotyping and cytochemical staining. Medical records of 35 dogs diagnosed with AML from 2007 to 2015 were included. Most dogs presented with inappetence (66%) and lethargy (57%) and physical examination findings of peripheral lymphadenopathy (74%) and tachypnea (62%). Common haematologic findings were quantifiable circulating blasts (85%; median blast count 35 700/μL; range: 300-276 500/μL), anaemia (median haematocrit 34%; range: 11%-52%) and thrombocytopenia (median 57 000/μL; range: 9000-252 000/μL). Bicytopenia and pancytopenia were each found in 44% of dogs. Follow-up information was available for 34 dogs. The overall median survival time from diagnosis was 19 days (range: 1-121 days). Clinical progression in some dogs was not as rapid as previously reported. Haematologic responses to various chemotherapeutics were documented in 3 dogs, with associated survival times of 62, 103 and 121 days. Dogs treated with prednisone or a combination of chemotherapy and prednisone had improved survival compared to dogs that received symptomatic care only (P < .0001). Our results show canine AML has an overlapping clinical presentation with lymphoma. The prognosis for canine AML remains extremely guarded. Further studies are needed to optimize therapeutic regimens for dogs with AML.