Primary diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in a striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis)

Our plain-English summary of Primary diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in a striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), by S.M. Kim, Y. Oh, S.H. Oh, et al (The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2016).

The study

• Authors: S.M. Kim, Y. Oh, S.H. Oh, J.H. Han
• Journal: The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science
• Published: 2016;78(3):485-7
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

A 10-year-old female striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) was admitted with severe abdominal distension and lethargy. Cytological examination of the peritoneal fluid revealed activated mesothelial cells. At necropsy, numerous growing together, projecting, 2 to 20 mm in diameter tawny to white masses were scattered throughout the peritoneum including the mesentery, omentum and intestinal serosa. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of prominent papillo-tubular structures, and immunohistochemically, the spindle to polygonal-shaped tumor cells with nuclear polymorphism were strongly reactive for calretinin. Based on those diagnostic features, the neoplasia was diagnosed as malignant mesothelioma. This is the first case report of mesothelioma in the skunk.

In plain English

This article was a veterinary case report about one animal, a 10-year-old female striped skunk raised at the Everland Zoological Gardens in South Korea. It came to a university veterinary hospital after two months of severe swelling of the abdomen from fluid. Fluid drawn from the abdomen contained clusters of activated mesothelial cells, which are cells from the lining of body cavities. During surgery, many tan to white nodules and plaques, 2 to 20 mm across, covered the omentum, the intestines, the diaphragm and the abdominal wall. The skunk was put down during surgery and examined after death. Under the microscope, the tumor looked like epithelioid mesothelioma. The tumor cells were strongly positive for calretinin; they were also positive for CK 5/6, mesothelin and vimentin, with no strength stated. The authors found no evidence of adenocarcinoma, another type of cancer, spreading from other organs. The authors diagnosed malignant mesothelioma and called this the first report of mesothelioma in a striped skunk. Asbestos fibers were not detected in the tissue samples, and the assessment for asbestos exposure was negative.

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: case report (single animal)
• Who was studied: One 10-year-old female striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) raised at the Everland Zoological Gardens, South Korea, admitted to the Kangwon National University Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was found. Asbestos fibers were not detected in the representative tissue samples, and the epidemiological assessment for asbestos exposure was negative. No fiber type is named.
• Main results:
  • Fluid drawn from the skunk's abdomen contained multiple clusters of activated mesothelial cells
  • Tan to white nodules and plaques, 2 to 20 mm in diameter, covered the omentum, small and large intestines, the diaphragm and the abdominal wall
  • The skunk was euthanized during surgery and a postmortem examination was performed
  • Under the microscope, the omentum, mesenteric surface and serosa were covered by multiple layers of tumor cells, and the features were judged highly indicative of epithelioid mesothelioma
  • The tumor cells were strongly positive for calretinin. They were positive for CK 5/6, mesothelin and vimentin, with no intensity stated and the data not shown.
  • No evidence of metastatic adenocarcinoma from other organs was found, and the reactivity with mesothelioma markers was taken to rule out a primary adenocarcinoma
• The authors' conclusion: The authors diagnosed the tumor as malignant mesothelioma and stated that, to their knowledge, this was the first report of mesothelioma in a striped skunk

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Peritoneal mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Mesothelial Cells, Autopsy, Peritoneum, Mesentery, Omentum, Calretinin, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

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• Metastatic primary peritoneal malignant mesothelioma mimicking primary diffuse gastric carcinoma: a rare encounter in gastric biopsy — Y. Yang, D. Gunawardane, et al. (2017)
• Primary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma of the peritoneum: an unusual mimic of diffuse malignant mesothelioma — R.L. Attanoos, N.S. Dallimore, et al. (1997)
• Clinical picture, response to therapy, and survival of women with diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma — G.H. Eltabbakh, M.S. Piver, et al. (1999)
• Value of mesothelial and epithelial antibodies in distinguishing diffuse peritoneal mesothelioma in females from serous papillary carcinoma of the ovary and peritoneum — R.L. Attanoos, R. Webb, et al. (2002)

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