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Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma, previously referred to as carcinoid, is a malignant tumour arising from neuroendocrine cells and is a rare form of hepatic neoplasia in cats. This case report describes primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a cat, with weight loss and vomiting as its primary clinical signs. Definitive diagnosis was made following surgical excision and histopathology of the affected liver lobes in addition to immunohistochemistry staining. Following surgery, the cat received different chemotherapy agents due to observation of progressive disease at restaging visits. The cat is currently receiving metronomic chemotherapy of cyclophosphamide and has no evidence of metastatic disease present 1009 days after initial presentation. Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma can occur in cats and should be a differential diagnosis for a hepatic mass in this species. Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinomas are rare in cats, and there is no standard of care for treatment in companion animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, intraoperative tumour margin imaging is not routinely utilized in veterinary medicine. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows for real‐time assessment of tissue morphology of 1–2 mm depth. The aims of this study were (1) to compare the histologic and OCT features of excised canine skin and subcutaneous specimens, and (2) to determine the diagnostic accuracy of OCT for surgical margin evaluation. The authors hypothesized that OCT imaging would correlate well with histopathology and that OCT would be sensitive for detection of incomplete margins. Eighty dogs were prospectively enrolled. Tumours were excised, and the surgical margins were imaged using a spectral domain OCT system. The tumour type and completeness of excision were determined by histopathology. Nine blinded observers received training in OCT image interpretation and were then given a set of OCT images and videos. The observers assigned each image/video a grade from 1 (no tumour) to 4 (tumour) and the results were compared to histopathology. The overall median sensitivity and specificity of OCT imaging for detection of incomplete margins were 86.7% and 84.6%, respectively. A potential limitation is that observers had varied experience with OCT image interpretation, ranging from no prior experience to participating in a previous OCT project. OCT is sensitive for detection of incomplete margins and could be a promising real‐time surgical margin imaging modality. Further study is needed to evaluate intraoperative applications of OCT and its impact on tumour recurrence and long‐term outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the majority of canine osteosarcomas (OSA) arise from the medullary cavity, a subset arises from the surface of bone. In humans, surface OSA often has a more indolent disease course with better outcomes than medullary OSA. The aim of this retrospective case series was to evaluate the clinical outcome and potential prognostic factors of dogs with surface OSA. Medical records from 11 dogs previously diagnosed with surface OSA were included. Histopathology of cases was evaluated during case review by two veterinary anatomic pathologists. Median progression free interval (PFI) and overall median survival time (OST) were estimated using Kaplan–Meier methods. Intergroup comparisons were performed using log‐rank tests. Six dogs were diagnosed with periosteal OSA, 4 dogs with parosteal OSA, and one dog with an unclassified surface OSA. Two dogs were found to have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis and four developed metastatic lesions after treatment. The median PFI and median OST for all dogs with surface OSA was 425 and 555 days, respectively. The 6 dogs diagnosed with periosteal OSA had a median PFI of 461 days and median OST of 555 days, while the 4 dogs with parosteal OSA had a PFI of 350 days and the OST could not be calculated. Multiple prognostic factors (surgery, systemic adjunctive therapy, elevated alkaline phosphatase at diagnosis, appendicular vs axial location, mitotic count, and tumour grade) were evaluated and none were prognostic for PFI or OST. Dogs with surface OSA appear to have prolonged PFI and OST, consistent with humans with surface OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging modality that provides real-time visualization of tissue microstructure. The goals of this study were to assess OCT image tissue depths (TD) with image processing, and other objective characteristics of tissue types at surgical margins in canine soft tissue sarcoma (STS). In this study, a single observer reviewed 248 images of four tissue types (sarcoma, skeletal muscle, adipose and fascia) collected from 24 dogs with STS. The observer evaluated for tissue characteristics and measured TDs utilizing ImageJ software. Images were evaluated in normal, Threshold and Binary conditions. Measurements were repeated 1 week later to evaluate for intra-observer variability. In all three image processing conditions, the order of TD from greatest to least light penetration was adipose, skeletal muscle, fascia and sarcoma tissue. Neovascularization was observed in 53.2% sarcoma, and lines of fascia surrounding muscle bundles was present in 93.5% of skeletal muscle images. These observed differences between tissue types in OCT images can be utilized to improve observer evaluation, aid in development of algorithms, and improve the accuracy of surgical margin assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) uses near-infrared light waves to generate real-time, high-resolution images on the microscopic scale similar to low power histopathology. Previous studies have demonstrated the use of OCT for real-time surgical margin assessment for human breast cancer. The use of OCT for canine mammary tumours (CMT) could allow intra-operative visualisation of residual tumour at the surgical margins. The purpose of this study was to assess OCT imaging for the detection of incomplete tumour resection following CMT surgery. We hypothesized that the OCT images would have comparable features to histopathological images of tissues at the surgical margins of CMT resections along with a high sensitivity of OCT detection of incomplete surgical excision of CMT. Thirty surgical specimens were obtained from nineteen client-owned dogs undergoing surgical resection of CMT. OCT image appearance and characteristics of adipose tissue, skin, mammary tissue and mammary tumour at the surgical margins were distinct and different. The OCT images of normal and abnormal tissues at the surgical margins were utilized to develop a dataset of OCT images for observer evaluation. The sensitivity and specificity for ex vivo images were 83.3% and 82.0% (observer 1) and 70.0% and 67.9% (observer 2). The sensitivity and specificity for in vivo images were 70.0% and 89.3% (observer 1) and 76.7% and 67.9% (observer 2). These results indicate a potential use of OCT for surgical margin assessment for CMT to optimize surgical intervention and clinical outcomes. Improved training and experience of observers may improve sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an optical imaging modality that has been investigated for real-time surgical margin evaluation in human breast cancer patients. Previous veterinary OCT studies have been limited to surgical margin imaging for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) tumours. To the authors knowledge, OCT has never been used to characterize or evaluate other types of neoplasia in dogs. The goal of this study was to characterize the OCT imaging appearance of apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma (AGASACA) in excised ex vivo specimens from five client-owned dogs. All excised tissue surgical margins were imaged using a clinical spectral domain OCT system and two to four areas suspicious for incomplete surgical margins were selected. These areas were inked and sections were trimmed for histopathology. This enabled OCT imaging from each area of interest to be compared with corresponding H&E stained histology imaging from the same location. OCT was able to identify the presence of AGASACA at or within 1 mm of the surgical margin in all areas of interest. AGASACA, similar to the previously described canine STS, generated a dense, highly scattering image without any specific textural architecture. This study was able to validate the ability of OCT to accurately identify another type of tumour presence at or close to the surgical margin in the dog. Further study is needed to assess OCT accuracy at identifying other tumour types in dogs to understand its potential clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 11‐year‐old female spayed golden retriever was presented for a second opinion regarding a recently diagnosed distal oesophageal mass. The dog had a history of chronic post‐prandial regurgitation. Physical examination and laboratory work yielded no significant findings. Thoracic radiographs revealed no significant findings other than equivocal cardiomegaly. A fluoroscopic barium swallow study and computed tomography scans of the chest and abdomen were performed, revealing an approximately 2.5 cm mass at the level of the lower oesophageal sphincter. A gastro‐oesophageal resection and anastomosis was performed and histopathology of the mass was consistent with leiomyoma, excised with complete margins. The dog recovered uneventfully and was discharged from the hospital 3 days after surgery. The dog was doing well 5 months after surgery, with an acceptable quality of life and mild, intermittent regurgitation episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The updated VCOG‐CTCAE v2 guidelines contain several important updates and additions since the last update (v1.1) was released in 2011 and published within Veterinary and Comparative Oncology in 2016. As the Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group (VCOG) is no longer an active entity, the original authors and contributors to the VCOG‐CTCAE v1.0 and v1.1 were consulted for input, and additional co‐authors sought for expansion and refinement of the adverse event (AE) categories. VCOG‐CTCAE v2 includes expanded neurology, cardiac and immunologic AE sections, and the addition of procedural‐specific AEs. It is our intent that, through inclusion of additional authors from ACVIM subspecialties and the American College of Veterinary Surgery, that we can more comprehensively capture AEs that are observed during clinical studies conducted across a variety of disease states, clinical scenarios, and body systems. It is also our intent that these updated veterinary CTCAE guidelines will offer improved application and ease of use within veterinary practice in general, as well as within clinical trials that assess new therapeutic strategies for animals with a variety of diseases. Throughout the revision process, we strived to ensure the grading structure for each AE category was reflective of the decision‐making process applied to determination of dose‐limiting events. As phase I trial decisions are based on these criteria and ultimately determine the maximally tolerated dose, there is impact on standard dosing recommendations for any new drug registration or application. This document should be updated regularly to reflect ongoing application to clinical studies carried out in veterinary patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feline sarcoids (or cutaneous fibropapillomas) are rare dermal neoplasms. There are currently no reported statistics concerning their clinical behaviour. Our objective with this retrospective, multi‐institutional study was to describe the clinical presentation and biological behaviour of sarcoids in cats and to determine the oncologic outcome following surgical resection. Medical records from a laboratory database and six contributing institutions were searched to identify cats with histologically confirmed sarcoids. Forty‐two cats were included in the study. The majority of sarcoids occurred on the face, particularly rostral locations such as the lips and nasal planum. Complete and incomplete histologic excision was achieved in 18 and 21 cats, respectively. The overall local recurrence rate was 40.5%. Complete histologic excision was associated with a significantly lower local recurrence rate (11.1%) and longer disease‐free interval (not reached) compared with cats with incompletely excised sarcoids (66.7% and 250 days, respectively). The 1‐ and 2‐year local recurrence rates were 0% and 7%, respectively, for cats with complete histologic excision, and 67% at both time intervals for cats with incomplete histologic excision. Five of the cats (83.3%) treated with curative‐intent surgical revision following local tumour recurrence had no further local recurrence. All cats that died secondary to tumour‐related causes had initial incomplete histologic excision and were euthanized because of local recurrence. Wide surgical resection of feline sarcoids is recommended to achieve complete histologic excision, local tumour control and a potential cure. For cats with incomplete histologic excision or local tumour recurrence, repeat surgical resection is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objectives of this study were to report the contemporary demographical information, provide the incidence of and to assess sex and breed predisposition of salivary gland neoplasia in dogs and cats. Materials and Methods: Information was collected from cats or dogs with salivary neoplasia (cases) and controls from the 26 university veterinary teaching hospitals within the Veterinary Medical Data Base. A total of 56 dogs and 24 cats were identified as having been diagnosed with salivary neoplasia. Results: The incidence of salivary neoplasia in this population was calculated to be 15.3 per 100,000 dogs and 26.3 per 100,000 cats. The specific anatomic location of the salivary neoplasia was unable to be determined in 90.8% of cases in both dogs and cats. Results of the univariable conditional logistic regression models revealed no increased risk of salivary neoplasia in dogs or cats of any sex or neuter status (dogs: p =.26; cats: p =.45). There was no breed disposition within the feline species for salivary neoplasia. However, in the conditional logistic regression for dogs, poodles (toy and standard) trended towards significance (p =.075) with an odds ratio of 6.83 (95% CI: 1.16–40.10) compared to mixed breeds. Conclusions and clinical relevance: The present study's results differ from previous conclusions made in regards to predisposed breeds and tumour location. Additional epidemiological studies should be performed to help in determining risk factors for salivary gland neoplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a rapid non‐invasive imaging technique that has shown high sensitivity for intra‐operative surgical margin assessment in human breast cancer clinical trials. This promising technology has not been evaluated in veterinary medicine. The objective of this study was to correlate normal and abnormal histological features with OCT images for surgical margins from excised canine soft tissue sarcoma (STS) and to establish image evaluation criteria for identifying positive surgical margins. Fourteen client‐owned dogs underwent surgical resection of a STS and OCT imaging of 2 to 4 areas of interest on the resected specimen were performed. Following imaging these areas were marked with surgical ink and trimmed for histopathology evaluation. Results showed that different tissue types had distinct characteristic appearances on OCT imaging. Adipose tissue exhibited a relatively low scattering and a honey‐comb texture pattern. Skeletal muscle and sarcoma tissue were both dense and highly scattering. While sarcoma tissue was highly scattering, it did not have organized recognizable structure in contrast to muscle which showed clear fibre alignment patterns. In this investigation, we showed different tissue types had different and characteristic scattering and image texture appearances on OCT, which closely correlate with low‐power histology images. Given the differentiation between tissue types the results support that OCT could be used to identify positive surgical margins immediately following resection of STS. Further research is needed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of this method for surgical margin assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For canine mast cell tumour (MCT), histopathology reports are one of the main factors considered in the decision‐making process regarding need and type of adjunctive therapy. However, considerable variation exists in types of information reported, especially relating to surgical margins. The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate how information is presented within canine MCT histopathology reports across the United States. The reports were collected from medical and surgical oncologists from 4 geographic regions of the USA: Midwest, Northeast, South and West. All reports were obtained between January 1st 2012 and May 1st 2015. Inclusion criteria required that the final diagnosis was MCT, a microscopic description was present, and it was not a scar revision. Three hundred and sixty‐eight reports were collected from 26 contributors. While the majority of the reports contained a clinical history (85.9%), information for certain prognostic indicators such as location and mass size was lacking. Grading with both Patnaik and Kiupel systems were described in 76.5% of reports with a single system being used in 7.1% and 15.2% of reports, respectively. Subcutaneous MCT were assigned a grading scheme in 67.2% of reports with 33.3% stating appropriate limitations. Surgical margins were reported in 92% of the reports with 77.2% describing deep and lateral margins separately. Tissue composing the deep margin was only described in 10.9% of the reports. The present results indicate reporting of MCT has variability across pathologists with inconsistencies present in the reporting of clinical history, margin evaluation and subcutaneous MCT grading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Osteosarcoma is a rare bone cancer that occurs primarily in children. The discovery of new treatments for osteosarcoma and other rare cancer types has been severely limited by access to patient samples to study these often-complex diseases. Here we capitalize on naturally-occurring cancers in pet dogs to study the biology of these rare cancers. Using living cells from canine and human patients to test thousands of drugs simultaneously, we identify a unique combination of drugs that disrupts protein degradation and protein trafficking in cancer cells. This drug combination represents a promising new treatment to treat both dogs and people with osteosarcoma. Background: Osteosarcoma is a rare but aggressive bone cancer that occurs primarily in children. Like other rare cancers, treatment advances for osteosarcoma have stagnated, with little improvement in survival for the past several decades. Developing new treatments has been hampered by extensive genomic heterogeneity and limited access to patient samples to study the biology of this complex disease. Methods: To overcome these barriers, we combined the power of comparative oncology with patient-derived models of cancer and high-throughput chemical screens in a cross-species drug discovery pipeline. Results: Coupling in vitro high-throughput drug screens on low-passage and established cell lines with in vivo validation in patient-derived xenografts we identify the proteasome and CRM1 nuclear export pathways as therapeutic sensitivities in osteosarcoma, with dual inhibition of these pathways inducing synergistic cytotoxicity. Conclusions: These collective efforts provide an experimental framework and set of new tools for osteosarcoma and other rare cancers to identify and study new therapeutic vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]