Feline pyloric and duodenal adenoma: A histological and immunohistochemical study

Brunner's gland adenomas in two cats

Case series summary

Two cats, aged 13.5 and 14 years, presented with duodenal masses ultimately diagnosed as Brunner's gland (BG) adenomas. In the first cat, the lesion was a firm, pale tan, proximal duodenal polyp adjacent to the major duodenal papilla that was composed histologically of a well demarcated, expansile mass of well-differentiated BGs separated by fibrovascular septa and few adipocytes. This patient was euthanized for otitis-related vestibular signs, and the clinical significance of the duodenal polyp is unknown. The second cat presented with a 6-month history of vomiting. This cat had a mural duodenal mass in the region of the major duodenal papilla of approximately 2 cm, which was histologically composed of a dense population of variably ectatic BGs expanding the submucosa and lamina propria. This patient's mass was non-resectable, but the vomiting resolved after palliative gastroenterostomy loop surgery to allow ingesta to flow past the mass. The patient survived 35 months after the procedure.

Relevance and novel information

BG adenoma is a rare, typically benign tumor in humans with non-specific clinical manifestations and no clear etiopathogenesis. This lesion, and the related condition BG hyperplasia, has been documented rarely in animals (one dog, two horses, and in mice and rats). This is the first description of the lesion in the cat. The comparative pathology, differential diagnoses and possible significance of these lesions are discussed.

Highly malignant endometrial stromal sarcoma in a cat

An 11-year-old female Persian cat underwent ovariohysterectomy due to dilation of the uterine cavity with irregular thickening of the wall. Macroscopically, the middle and distal regions of the left uterine horn were swollen and the uterine wall was irregularly thickened due to the development of multiple coalescent, variably sized nodules. Microscopically, the nodules had originated in the endometrium and were composed of round to polygonal neoplastic cells arranged in dense sheets or ill-defined fascicles. The neoplastic cells had locally invaded the myometrium and reached the subserosa, with lymphovascular invasion. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cell population was partially positive for CD10, an established marker of endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) in humans, with focal and diffuse nuclear immunopositivity for oestrogen and progesterone receptors and immunonegativity for desmin and α-smooth muscle actin. Based on these findings, the uterine tumour was diagnosed as ESS and was considered to correspond morphologically to high-grade ESS in humans.

Pathological Findings in Gastrointestinal Neoplasms and Polyps in 860 Cats and a Pilot Study on miRNA Analyses

Background: Gastrointestinal masses in cats are of clinical relevance, but pathological studies with larger case numbers are lacking. Biomarkers such as miRNA have not yet been investigated in feline intestinal neoplasms. Methods: A retrospective analysis of pathology reports included 860 feline gastrointestinal masses. Immunohistochemistry was performed on 91 lymphomas, 10 sarcomas and 7 mast cell tumours (MCT). Analyses of miRNA-20b and miRNA-192 were performed on 11 lymphomas, 5 carcinomas and 5 control tissues by ddPCR. Results: The pathological diagnosis identified 679 lymphomas, 122 carcinomas, 28 sarcomas, 23 polyps, 7 MCT and 1 leiomyoma. Carcinomas and polyps were most commonly found in the large intestine, lymphomas were most commonly found in the stomach and small intestine and MCT only occurred in the small intestine. Besides the well-described small-cell, mitotic count <2 T-cell lymphomas and the large-cell B-cell lymphomas with a high mitotic count, several variants of lymphomas were identified. The values of miRNA-20b were found to be up-regulated in samples of all types of cancer, whereas miRNA-192 was only up-regulated in carcinomas and B-cell lymphomas. Conclusions: The histopathological and immunohistochemical (sub-)classification of feline intestinal masses confirmed the occurrence of different tumour types, with lymphoma being the most frequent neoplasm. Novel biomarkers such as miRNA-20b and miRNA-192 might have diagnostic potential in feline intestinal neoplasms and should be further investigated.