Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology and Histologic Correlation in Canine Tumors

Abstract

Fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed on 147 skin tumors in 119 dogs over a 4-year period. Both air-dried smears (Wright's stain) and wet-fixed smears (Papanicolaou's stain) were prepared from the aspirates from each tumor and the cytological diagnosis was correlated with histology. In 105 tumors, the cytological and histological interpretations agreed. Histologically, there were 36 stromal tumors, including 19 fibrosarcomas and nine hemangiosarcomas. Cytologically, 12 of the fibrosarcomas and five of the hemangiosarcomas were interpreted correctly as malignant tumors. All 11 melanomas and all 37 mast cell tumors were identified correctly cytologically, while nine of the 11 squamous cell carcinomas, 15 of 21 adenocarcinomas and eight of 19 mammary carcinomas were interpreted as malignant using aspiration biopsy. The fine-needle technique also identified 16 dogs with metastases to the regional lymph nodes before surgical biopsies were undertaken. Benign tumors were incorrectly described as malignancies in only three cases.

Non‐exfoliative canine cytology: The value of fine needle aspiration and scraping cytology

“…This has also been reported previously (3,41) and is due to the poor exfoliation of cells in many tumours of mesenchymal origin (3,10,17,20,40,41). ,..…”

“…Moreover, it has been used in various other organs and tissues e.g. the skin (9,10,18,22) including the mammary glands (1, 10, 18), the thyroid (18,22,37), the eye (5,25), the lymph nodes (21,22), the salivary gland (22), bone tissue (18,22), lung (18) and intraabdominal and intrathoracic masses (22,23). Cytological techniques are simple and non-invasive (6, 17, 18,.21, 23), and an experienced cytopathologist can rapidly provide adequate information with respect to a preliminary diagnosis and prognosis (3,6,17,28,33).…”

A Comparative Review of Melanocytic Neoplasms

“…An earlier study to determine the degree of correlation between cytologic and histologic evaluations of skin masses and LN aspirates mentions successful detection of metastatic melanoma in LN for two cases that matched the histologic findings. 101 The literature on humans contains many reports, which consistently demonstrate high sensitivity and specificity for FNAC as a means to detect melanoma metastasis in LN. 116,141,184,185 Morphology of metastatic melanoma is just as variable as the primary.…”

“…76 Fontana stain, another cytochemical stain, 78 and immunocytochemical stains 4,6 may also be of assistance but are not in common use for routine cytopathologic evaluation of pigmented tumors. 189 The initial definitive diagnosis of melanoma is usually done by histopathologic evaluation, with cytopathology used as a screen before biopsy or as an adjunct to biopsy 101 or other diagnostic modalities. 237 On the other hand, cytopathology is used more frequently than biopsies for monitoring of metastasis in both human patients and animals.…”

Comparação entre a citopatologia por biopsia com agulha fina e a histopatologia no diagnóstico das neoplasias cutâneas e subcutâneas de cães

“…A facilidade de esfoliação desse tipo tumoral resultou num elevado número de células presentes no esfregaço (Griffiths, Lumsden & Valli 1984). Desta forma, em poucos casos houve discordância entre a citopatologia e a histopatologia, fato já observado por outros autores (Magalhães et al 2001, Rodríguez el al.…”