A young male Crl:CD (SD) rat with erythroid leukemia that presented with
emaciation, abdominal distension and a pale visible mucosal membrane was
euthanized at 7 weeks of age. At necropsy, enlargement of liver, spleen and
pancreatic lymph node was noted. Analysis of blood smear samples revealed many
mono- or binucleated erythroblasts that had PAS-positive vacuoles in the
cytoplasm. Histopathologically, neoplastic proliferation of atypical cells was
observed in the hepatic sinusoids, splenic red pulp, bone marrow, pancreatic
lymph node, kidney and lung. Neoplastic cells showed a round to spindle shape,
and some neoplastic cells had deeply stained small nuclei and small cytoplasms
and resembled erythroblasts. Immunohistochemically, many neoplastic cells were
positive for hemoglobin. To our knowledge, this is the first report of erythroid
leukemia in a rat of this age. The observed features were similar to those of
pure erythroid leukemia in humans.