Corneal squamous cell carcinoma in a Border Collie

Abstract

A 6-year-old, female, spayed Border Collie was presented to the Unit of Comparative Ophthalmology at the Animal Health Trust with a 6-month history of a progressive nonpainful opacity of the left cornea. A keratectomy was performed and the tissue submitted for histopathology. The diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma. There has been no recurrence of the neoplasm to date (5 months). Canine corneal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has not been reported previously in the UK.

Superficial corneal squamous cell carcinoma occurring in dogs with chronic keratitis

“…In eight cases tumors exhibited both invasive and exophytic characteristics. Most historical case reports 6–11 describe neoplastic growth as being limited to the superficial epithelium (carcinoma in situ ). In this collection, eight of 26 were diagnosed as carcinoma in situ , while 18 were diagnosed as SCC, based on invasion beyond the basal lamina of the epithelium (Figs 2 and 3).…”

Treatment of corneal squamous cell carcinoma using topical 1% 5‐fluorouracil as monotherapy

“…The resolution of corneal SCC described in the present report suggests that topical 1% 5‐fluorouracil as a sole therapy may be a viable and cost‐effective alternative for treatment of focal, nonadvanced corneal SCC. Historically, treatment of ocular surface SCC in dogs and horses has been surgical excision of grossly affected tissue with adjunctive therapy utilized to treat microscopic disease . In the case described, a small incisional biopsy was obtained under topical anesthesia with no intent to debulk the lesion.…”

“…The primary treatment strategy in large animals has consisted of surgical excision of the affected tissue, and recurrence rate may be decreased with the use of adjunctive procedures such as cryotherapy, immunotherapy, radiofrequency hyperthermia, strontium 90 irradiation, or topical chemotherapy . In the dog, surgical excision alone or with adjunctive therapy using cryotherapy, strontium 90 irradiation, or topical chemotherapy has been successful in the treatment of corneal SCC.…”

Primary Corneal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Dog: Clinical and Histopathological Evaluation

“…In the case of dogs with normal function of the eye affected by corneal SCC, a superficial keratectomy alone [4,6,9] or associated with adjuvant therapies (cryosurgery [5] or topical mitomycin C [8]) has been described with good results.…”

“…Corneal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is considered rare in the dog and often represents a secondary extension of a primary limbal or conjunctival neoplasia [1,3,4]. A number of cases of canine primary SCC of the cornea have been described especially in recent years [5][6][7][8][9][10], and some authors report an increased occurrence of the tumor in this period [11].…”