Primary neuroblastoma in the skin of an adult shih tzu dog

Abstract

A subcutaneous mass arising in the right gluteal area of an 11-year-old female shih tzu dog was surgically excised. Histologically, the mass was composed of small round or ovoid neoplastic cells that were arranged in nests of various sizes. The neoplastic cells generally had hyperchromatic nuclei and scanty eosinophilic cytoplasm, and were surrounded by a pale pink fibrillar area. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells were positive for vimentin, S-100 protein, neurone-specific enolase and synaptophysin, but negative for cytokeratin, neurofilament protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein and chromogranin A. On ultrastructural observation, aggregates of thin cytoplasmic processes were frequently seen among the neoplastic cells. Based on these features, the tumour was diagnosed as a neuroblastoma. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first description of a neuroblastoma originating from the skin in an adult dog.

Disseminated peripheral neuroblastoma in a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog

“…In dogs, peripheral neuroblastic tumours have been reported mainly in the abdomen, including cases of suspected or confirmed adrenal medullary origin, and in the thorax and neck . They have also been reported arising within olfactory epithelium of the upper nasal cavity, within the trigeminal ganglion and from suspected ectopic neural crest cells in the oral cavity and skin . Neuroblastoma, the least differentiated neuroblastic tumour, comprises predominantly neuroblasts, without, or with only limited, Schwannian proliferation (‘Schwannian stroma‐poor’), and is most frequently reported in children and young dogs .…”

Footpad peripheral ganglioneuroblastoma in a dog

“…The PNTs have been described in domestic animals, including dogs . Most reports of PNTs in dogs describe visceral NBs and, more sporadically, visceral GNs; however, in the skin a primary NB and a multifocal GN (thorax, flank and scrotum) have been described . Peripheral GNB in dogs has been reported to occur in the mediastinum, and nasal and oral cavities .…”

Enteric peripheral neuroblastoma in a calf

“…Occurrence of peripheral neuroblastoma at any other site is rare. To our knowledge, there is only one case report of cutaneous neuroblastoma in a dog, in the literature [15]. Here, we report a case of ectopic abdominal peripheral neuroblastoma in a Japanese Black calf, without association with the adrenal gland, and application of anti-doublecortin (DCX) immunostaining on its tissue sample for differentiation.…”