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Manes C, Herren RM, Page A, Dunlap FD, Skibicki CA, Rollinson Ramia DR, Farrell JA, Capua I, Carthy RR, Duffy DJ. Green Turtle Fibropapillomatosis: Tumor Morphology and Growth Rate in a Rehabilitation Setting. Vet Sci 2023; 10:421. [PMID: 37505827 PMCID: PMC10383401 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci10070421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a neoplastic disease most often found in green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Afflicted turtles are burdened with potentially debilitating tumors concentrated externally on the soft tissues, plastron, and eyes and internally on the lungs, kidneys, and the heart. Clinical signs occur at various levels, ranging from mild disease to severe debilitation. Tumors can both progress and regress in affected turtles, with outcomes ranging from death due to the disease to complete regression. Since its official description in the scientific literature in 1938, tumor growth rates have been rarely documented. In addition, FP tumors come in two very different morphologies; yet, to our knowledge, there have been no quantified differences in growth rates between tumor types. FP tumors are often rugose in texture, with a polypoid to papillomatous morphology, and may or may not be pedunculated. In other cases, tumors are smooth, with a skin-like surface texture and little to no papillose structures. In our study, we assessed growth-rate differences between rugose and smooth tumor morphologies in a rehabilitation setting. We measured average biweekly tumor growth over time in green turtles undergoing rehabilitation at the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital in St. Augustine, Florida, and compared growth between rugose and smooth tumors. Our results demonstrate that both rugose and smooth tumors follow a similar active growth progression pattern, but rugose tumors grew at significantly faster rates (p = 0.013) than smooth ones. We also documented regression across several examined tumors, ranging from -0.19% up to -10.8% average biweekly negative growth. Our study offers a first-ever assessment of differential growth between tumor morphologies and an additional diagnostic feature that may lead to a more comprehensive understanding and treatment of the disease. We support the importance of tumor morphological categorization (rugose versus smooth) being documented in future FP hospital- and field-based health assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Costanza Manes
- One Health Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Richard M Herren
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- The Sea Turtle Conservancy, Gainesville, FL 32609, USA
| | - Annie Page
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA
| | - Faith D Dunlap
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | | | - Devon R Rollinson Ramia
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
| | - Jessica A Farrell
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
| | - Ilaria Capua
- School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Raymond R Carthy
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - David J Duffy
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Sea Turtle Hospital, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
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