Does categorisation of lymphoma subtypes according to the World Health Organization classification predict clinical outcome in cats?

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to specify lymphoma subtypes according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification in a group of cats and to investigate their potential prognostic value. Methods Records of cats from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna suffering from lymphoma were reviewed in this retrospective study. To diagnose various subtypes specified in the WHO classification, histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations, as well as clonality assays in some cases, were performed. Results Of the 30 cats included in this study and classified according to the WHO guidelines, peripheral T-cell lymphoma was the most prevalent lymphoma subtype (37% of cases; n = 11), followed by diffuse large B-cell (23%; n = 7), intestinal T-cell (10%; n = 3), T-cell-rich B-cell (10%; n = 3), large granular lymphocytic (7%; n = 2), anaplastic large T-cell (7%; n = 2), B-cell small lymphocytic (3%; n = 1) and T-cell angiotropic lymphoma (3%; n = 1). The median survival time (MST) was 5.4 months (range 6 days to 2.2 years), with two cats still alive after 1.7 and 2.0 years, respectively. Treating cats prior to chemotherapy with glucocorticoids did not worsen their prognosis. Adding to chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery did not improve the clinical outcome. We observed that patients with intestinal T-cell lymphoma lived significantly longer (MST 1.7 years) than those with a diffuse large B-cell (MST 4.5 months) or peripheral T-cell lymphoma (MST 6.1 months). Cats with T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma survived significantly longer (MST 1.2 years) than those with a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Conclusions and relevance A detailed diagnosis of feline lymphoma can be obtained by allocating different subtypes according to the WHO classification. From the eight detected lymphoma subtypes, two, intestinal T-cell lymphoma and T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma, showed promising survival times in cats.

Feline large granular lymphocyte lymphoma: An Italian Society of Veterinary Oncology (SIONCOV) retrospective study

“…Indeed, 12 cats underwent surgical debulking, followed by subsequent chemotherapy in 9 of them, with no significant improvement of outcome. It may be possible that tumor resection does not benefit cats with LGL lymphoma due to its peculiar biology, as previously described, or the small number of cats may have rendered the results statistically not significant.…”

“…Due to the poor outcome and the presence of severe clinical signs, euthanasia is usually carried out soon after diagnosis . Nevertheless, treated individual cases are occasionally described as harboring a more favorable prognosis …”

Feline low-grade alimentary lymphoma: an emerging entity and a potential animal model for human disease

“…Several subtypes of AL can be defined according to the histological grade (low, intermediate or high), cell size (small or large) and phenotype (T or B) of the neoplastic lymphocytes [ 6 , 8 , 14 , 18 , 20 – 23 ]. Originally, lymphomas were classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) scheme into Enteropathy-Associated T-cell Lymphoma (EATL) type 1 and 2.…”

Clinical and Pathological Data of 17 Non-Epithelial Pancreatic Tumors in Cats

“…Sato et al [37] showed a shorter survival time in alimentary (48 days) lymphomas than in cats with nasal (135 days) or mediastinal (143 days) lymphomas. Wolfesberger et al [38] reported the highest survival time in intestinal T-cell lymphomas (1.7 years) compared to large B-cell lymphoma (4.5 months) or peripheral T-cell lymphoma (6.1 months). In our study, seven out of 12 cats with lymphomas were either euthanized or died during or shortly after surgery.…”