Nasal transmissible venereal tumours in 12 dogs – a retrospective study

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was a retrospective analysis of clinical manifestation and treatment outcome of the nasal form of transmissible venereal tumours (TVT). Material and methods Twelve dogs suffering from nasal TVT were included in this study. Patients with primary genital lesions were excluded from the study. Signalment, physical examination and laboratory findings, results of further diagnostics, and treatment results were recorded in all patients. Results The study population comprised 9 male and 4 female dogs with an (estimated) age ranging from 3 to 7 years. With one exception all dogs originated from Ukraine. Symptoms of nasal TVT included sneezing, nasal bleeding (all cases), skull infiltration (9 cases), oronasal fistulas (9 cases) and cutaneous fistulas (5 cases). Animals received vincristine sulfate at 0.7 mg/m2 i. v. weekly. The treatment course consisted of 4–9 cycles (median 5 cycles). Complete remission was achieved in all cases. All dogs were disease-free during the follow-up period (median 23.5 months, range 12–56 months). All patients tolerated the treatment very well. Clinical significance In conclusion, our data suggest that nasal TVT can have a good response to vincristine treatment. TVT should be considered as a differential diagnosis in sneezing dogs with nasal discharge or bleeding especially in young dogs and in dogs with suspected nasal tumours, even in countries without a stray animal population.

Rare complex fistulations of frontal sinus, occulo‐nasal and oro‐nasal passages due to nasal form of canine transmissible venereal tumour

“…28 Presence of an oro-nasal fistula secondary to nasal CTVT was also documented. 29 Such nasal cavity-oriented CTVT complications are being documented across many geographical areas of the world, 1,17,20,30,31 and it underscored the emerging nature of clinical complexities on account of nasal forms of CTVT. Such clinical complications may necessitate the need for advanced investigations such as CT imaging for diagnosis and management.…”

Sex disparity in oronasal presentations of canine transmissible venereal tumour

“…Imaging can in some cases reveal paranasal bone destruction. 23,26 CTVT affects both male and female dogs, and although some studies have reported a higher prevalence in females, 22,28,29 disparity in CTVT has been reported. 6,30,31 Variation in the prevalence of oronasal CTVT between the sexes has not been systematically examined; however, there is reason to suspect that there might be sex-linked variation in risk.…”

“… 8 , 22 Oronasal CTVT is rarely observed, 6 , 21 , 22 , 25 although to our knowledge no studies have systematically addressed its prevalence. Oronasal CTVT tumours present as soft-tissue masses within the nasal or oral cavities, leading to clinical signs such as sneezing, snoring, mucopurulent nasal discharge or bleeding, and facial deformation 23 , 26 , 27 ( Figure 1 ). Imaging can in some cases reveal paranasal bone destruction.…”