Cytomorphological, Molecular Diagnosis and Evaluation of Insertion of the LINE-1 Element in the C-MYC Gene in Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor: Applicability in Veterinary Clinical Routine

Abstract

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is the oldest known cancer in the world. Cytomorphologically, the cases are classified into three types. Previous studies have shown that the insertion of the transposable element LINE-1 in the MYC gene has diagnostic importance. Therefore, we characterized this insertion in samples of the three different cytomorphological types of CTVT, in order to verify whether there were any differences concerning the presence or location of the insertion and the size of the fragment. Our results showed that LINE-1 was inserted in all the samples analyzed, in the same position and presenting the same size (400 bp). We conclude that even though it is important for the oncogenesis process, this insertion has no influence on the cytomorphological type and the observed clinical differences.