felis - Articles
Fibrosarcoma
Introduction
- Most common skin tumor in the cat in some surveys.
- Subset of sarcomas Sarcoma.
- Can occur at sites other than the skin - nasal and oral cavities, bone, spleen, eye.
- Cause: neoplastic proliferation of connective tissue.
- May be at injection/vaccination site Feline injection-site associated sarcoma in USA - between scapula, femoral area/hind leg.
- Signs: skin mass.
- Diagnosis: histopathology.
- Treatment: radical surgical excision. Adjuvant radiation therapy or chemotherapy may be indicated in some cases.
- Prognosis: good if compartmental resection.
Presenting signs
- Solitary, firm, locally invasive, poorly demarcated mass in dermis or subcutis
, very variable in size. - Usually on the limbs or head.
- Multicentric fibrosarcoma of young cats associated with FeSV Feline sarcoma virus infection not seen in the UK (2% of feline fibrosarcomas).
Geographic incidence
- Older cats (8-10 years).
- Middle age (6-7 years) - vaccination sarcomas.
- Young cats (<4 years) - FeSV related.
Cost considerations
- Preoperative imaging (CT scan).
- May require repeated surgeries to excise recurrent masses or radiotherapy in conjunction with surgery.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- Can be FeSV associated in the USA (multicentric fibrosarcomas Feline sarcoma virus). Young cats, usually <3 years.
- May be associated with vaccination in USA, especially FeLV Leukemia and rabies Rabies inactivated vaccines.
- Intraocular sarcoma may develop after trauma or chronic uveitis Anterior uvea: traumatic uveitis.
Predisposing factors
General
- Old age.
Specific
- FeLV, rabies and other inactivated vaccination in USA.
- Multiple vaccinations at same site in USA.
- Trauma to eye for ocular sarcomas.
- FeLV positivity for multicentric FeSV-induced tumors.
Pathophysiology
- Usually slow growing connective tissue tumors, slow to metastasize to lungs or other sites (usually hematogenous spread).
- Vaccination associated tumors may be more aggressive and more prone to local recurrence.
- Slow growing mass in dermis/subcutis - local problem only, low rate of metastasis to lungs, other sites. Pre-malignant inflammatory reaction.
- Highly active, immunogenic, adjuvant in vaccine (particularly aluminum salts), any types of injections, or foreign material (microchips) may stimulate chronic, local inflammatory and immunological reaction - predisposes to neoplastic transformation.
- High concentrations of antigen produced by multiple vaccinations at one site may play a role.
Timecourse
- Prolonged - months.
Diagnosis
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Treatment
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Prevention
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Outcomes
Subscribe To View
This article is available to subscribers.
Try a free trial today or contact us for more information.
Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Weigand C M & Brewer W G (1996) Vaccination-site sarcomas in cats. Comp Cont Ed 18 (8), 869-875 VetMedResource.
- Esplin D G, McGill L D, Meininger A C et al (1993) Postvaccination sarcomas in cats. JAVMA 202 (8), 1245-1247 PubMed.
- Hendrick M J, Goldschmidt M H, Shofer F S et al (1992) Postvaccinal sarcomas in the cat: epidemiology and electron probe microanalytical identification of aluminium. Cancer Research 52 (19), 5391-5394 PubMed.
- Miller M A, Nelson S L, Turk J R (1991) Cutaneous neoplasia in 340 cats. Veterinary Pathology 28 (5), 389-395 PubMed.
- Dubielzig R R, Everitt J, Shadduck J A et al (1990) Clinical and morphologic features of post-traumatic ocular sarcomas in cats. Veterinary Pathology 27 (1), 62-65 PubMed.
- Susaneck S J (1983) Feline skin tumours. Comp Cont Ed 5 (4), 251-258 VetMedResource.
- Macy D W & Reynolds H A (1981) The incidence, characteristics and clinical management of skin tumors of cats. JAAHA 17 (6), 1026-1034 VetMedResource.
Other sources of information
- Withrow S J, Vail D M, Page R L (2013) Small Animal Clinical Oncology. 5th ed, Elsevier.
- Lana S E and Ogilvie G K (1997) Clincal perspectives on vaccine-associated sarcomas. In: Consultations in feline medicine. 3rd Edition Eds W R August. W B Saunders Company, Philadelphia. pp 541-545.
- Carpenter J L, Andrews L K and Holzworth J (1987) Fibroma and Fibrosarcoma. In: Holzworth J Eds Diseases of the Cat. Medicine and Surgery. W B Saunders Company, Philadelphia. pp 417-421.