Linfoma cutaneo epiteliotropo: aspetti clinico-patologici in 20 cani

Canine epitheliotropic cutaneous lymphoma, also named mycosis fungoides, has been described as an uncommon cutaneous lymphoma of T-cell origin, which is histologically characterized by the epitheliotropism of neoplastic T-lymphocytes. Two variants have been reported in man, based upon clinical and histopathological features: classical mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome. The disease in dogs is clinically classified as cutaneous nodular form, exfoliative erythroderma, mucocutaneous form, and oral form. Aim of the study - The aim is to point out the most interesting clinical and histopathological findings for the diagnosis, also carrying out a comparison with the human species. Material and methods - We report the cases of 20 dogs, diagnosed with epitheliotropic cutaneous lymphoma. Medical records of these animals were reviewed for rilevant data on signalment, anamnesis, clinical examination and histopathologic diagnosis. Results - All the clinical variants described by Scott in veterinary medicine were present alone or in combination: exfoliative erythroderma (75% dogs), mucocutaneous form (65% dogs), cutaneous nodular form (55% dogs), and oral form (25% dogs). On the basis of histological features, the most represented variant was pagetoid reticulosis (14/20 dogs, 70%). Sezary syndrome could not be found. Discussion - The clinical and histopathological features that were observed reflected those previously reported in the published literature, and showed interesting findings to be compared with the homologous human neoplasia.