Peritoneal sarcomatoid mesothelioma in a sika deer

Our plain-English summary of Peritoneal sarcomatoid mesothelioma in a sika deer, by K. Matsuda, S. Kogame, R. Yaegashi, et al (The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2019).

The study

• Authors: K. Matsuda, S. Kogame, R. Yaegashi, Y. Sano
• Journal: The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science
• Published: 2019;81(10):1504-1508
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

A slaughtered 2-year-old female sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) had diffusely distributed multinodular lesions on the serosal surface of the peritoneal cavity and several nodules in the pleural cavity. Histologically, they were composed of proliferating spindle-shaped neoplastic cells, arranged in a fascicular fashion. The cells in the invasive foci transitioned from a sarcomatoid to an epithelioid appearance. Immunohistochemically, both the spindle-shaped and epithelioid cells were at least focally positive for pancytokeratin, vimentin, calretinin, α-SMA, and desmin. From these findings, the deer was diagnosed with peritoneal sarcomatoid mesothelioma with metastasis to the pleural cavity. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of peritoneal mesothelioma in a cervid species and the first case of mesothelioma in a sika deer.

In plain English

This article was a veterinary case report about one animal, a female sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) captured in the eastern district of Hokkaido, Japan. The doe was estimated to be 2 years old and was slaughtered. About 20 liters of blood-tinged fluid were found in the abdomen. Numerous white nodules covered the lining surfaces of the abdominal cavity. At least 10 nodules up to 1 cm across were found in the chest (pleural) cavity. Under the microscope, the tumor was made mostly of spindle-shaped cells. Epithelioid (more rounded) cells made up less than 10% of the tumor tissue examined. Both cell types stained for calretinin, a marker used for mesothelioma. Epithelioid cells and a few spindle-shaped cells stained for pancytokeratin. The authors favored a diagnosis of peritoneal sarcomatoid mesothelioma, which they concluded began in the peritoneal cavity and spread to the pleural cavity. To their knowledge, it was the first reported peritoneal mesothelioma in the deer family. The article did not discuss asbestos or what caused the tumor.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: veterinary case report (one animal)
• Who was studied: One female sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis), estimated 2 years old, captured in the eastern district of Hokkaido, Japan, farmed in a herd for about a month and then slaughtered
• Main results:
  • About 20 liters of serosanguineous (blood-tinged) fluid were found in the deer's abdominal cavity, and numerous white nodules covered the serosal surfaces
  • In the pleural cavity, at least 10 white nodules up to 1 cm in diameter had formed
  • Most tumor cells were sarcomatoid spindle-shaped cells arranged in a fascicular fashion
  • Mitoses (dividing cells) were frequent: 40 in 10 high-power fields (2.37 square millimeters)
  • Epithelioid tumor tissue made up less than 10% of the total tumor mass examined
  • Epithelioid cells and a few spindle-shaped tumor cells stained for pancytokeratin
  • Both spindle-shaped and epithelioid tumor cells showed immunoreactivity for calretinin
  • No tumor cells were found inside the visceral organs or in the fetal tissues (the doe was pregnant)
  • Based on gross, histological and immunohistochemical findings, the authors favored a diagnosis of peritoneal sarcomatoid mesothelioma, which they concluded originated in the peritoneal cavity and spread to the pleural cavity
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, to the best of their knowledge, this was the first report of peritoneal mesothelioma in an animal of the deer family (Cervidae) and the first reported mesothelioma in a sika deer

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Sarcomatoid, Mesothelioma, Serosal Surface, Peritoneal Cavity, Pleural Cavity, Epithelioid, Calretinin, Desmin.

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