Detection of mammary adenocarcinoma metastases in a cat through 99mTc-thymine scintigraphy

Main Article Content

Paulo S. Castelo-Branco
Gabriel Gutfilen-Schlesinger
Priscila Sena
Guile Gutfilen-Schlesinger
Sergio A.L. Souza
Bianca Gutfilen

Abstract

Mammary adenocarcinomas with metastases are more common in dogs than in cats. Their incidence is 1 in every 4,000 cats. In routine veterinary practice, laboratory exams for diagnosis of these neoplasms are nonspecific and scarcely used. Even though invasive procedure, biopsy, and histopathological findings are the gold standards that define the clinical approach, the clinical evaluation, and image assessment lead the way to the proper treatment, especially when surgical intervention is a possibility. This study describes the clinical signs, histopathological aspects, radiological and scintigraphic findings of a cat with mammary adenocarcinoma and metastases evaluated one hour after intravenous administration of 99mTc-thymine. Our focus was not to discuss the pathological aspects of the disease but the Nuclear Medicine role in metastases detection. Metastases, when lesser than 4mm, could go unnoticed by radiological exams, whereas scintigraphy may detect them. Using 99mTc-thymine scintigraphy, we successfully detected unsuspected metastases in the lungs, liver, and right kidney. Early diagnosis is the key to a better rate of survival due to the given treatment and prognostic. Hence, we strongly recommend the use of 99mTc-thymine scintigraphy as a complementary tool for breast cancer diagnosis in veterinary care.
Keywords:
oncology scintigraphy adenocarcinoma diagnosis

Article Details

References

Furian M, Sandei CFCS, Rocha E J N, Lot RFE. Estudo retrospectivo dos tumores mamários em caninos e felinos atendidos no hospital veterinário da famed entre 2003 a 2007. Rev Cient Eletrônica Med Vet. 2007;4(8):1-4.

Daleck CR, Franceschini PH, Alessi AC, Santana AE, Martins MIM. Aspectos clíni- co e cirúrgico do tumor mamário canino. Cienc Rural. 1998;28:95-100.

Johnston SD. Reproductive systems. In: Slatter D, editor. Textbook of small ani- mal surgery. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1993. p. 2177-99.

Morrisson WB. Canine and feline mammary tumors. In: Morrisson WB, editor. Cancer in dogs and cats – Medical and surgical management. Baltimore: Wil- liams & Wilkins; 1998. p. 591-8.

dos Santos PCG, Coppieters CC, Barbeiro DAF, Barcelos F. Adenocarcinoma mamário em felinos. Rev Cient Eletrônica Med Vet. 2004;3.

Sorenmo KU, Worley DR, Goldschmidt MH. Tumors of the mammary gland. In: Withrow SJ, Macewen EG, editors. Small animal clinical oncology. 5th ed. Phila- delphia: Saunders; 2012. p. 538-52.

Carothers M. Neoplasia respiratória. In: Bichard SJ, Sherding RG, editors. Clínica de pequenos animais. São Paulo: Roca; 1998. p. 663-5.

Morris J. Mammary tumours in the cat: Size matters, so early intervention saves lives. JFMS. 2013;15:391-400

Giménez F. Early detection; aggressive therapy: Optimizing the management of feline mammary masses. JFMS. 2010;12:214-24

Gemignani F, Mayhew PD, Giuffrida MA, Palaigos J, Runge JJ, Holt DE, et al. As- sociation of surgical approach with complication rate, progression-free survival time, and disease-specific survival time in cats with mammary adenocarcinoma: 107 cases (1991-2014). J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2018;252(11):1393-402.

Mattoon JS, Bryan JN. The future of imaging in veterinary oncology: Learning from human medicine. Vet J. 2013;197(3):541-52.

Thrift E, Greenwell C, Turner AL, Harvey AM, Maher D, Malik R. Metastatic pul- monary carcinomas in cats (‘feline lung-digit syndrome’): further variations on a theme. JFMS Open Rep. 2017;3(1).

Aarsvold S, Reetz JA, Reichle JK, Jones ID, Lamb CR, Evola MG, et al. Computed tomographic findings in 57 cats with primary pulmonary neoplasia. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2015;56(3):272-7.

Freeman LM. Freeman and Johnson’s Clinical radionuclide imaging. Orlando, FL: Grune and Stratton; 1986. 1528p.

Early P, Sodee B. Principles and practice of nuclear medicine. St Louis, MO: Mosby; 1995.

Menezes ME, Das SK, Minn I, Emdad L, Wang XY, Sarkar D, et al. Detecting tumor metastases: The road to therapy starts here. Adv Cancer Res. 2016;132:1-44.

Gutfilen B, Rodrigues E, Soraggi R, Barbosa Da Fonseca LH. Preliminary obser- vation of 99mTc-thymine imaging in breast neoplasms. Nucl Med Commun. 2001;22(10):1133-7.

Gutfilen B, Fonseca LM. Comparison of Tc-99m THY and Tc-99m MIBI scans for diagnosis of breast lesions. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2001;20:385-91.

Ribeiro MP, Souza SA, Lopes FP, Rosado-de-Castro PH, Fonseca LM, Gutfilen B. 99mTc-thymine scintigraphy may be a promising method in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2013;68(3):283-9.

Tanigawa N, Morimoto H, Dohmae N, Shimomatsuya T, Takahashi D, Muraoka

R. In vitro growth ability and chemosensitivity of gastric and colorectal cancer cells assessed with the human tumor clonogenic assay and thymidine incorpo- ration assay. Eur J Cancer. 1992;28:31-4.

León E, Rey A, Savio E, López J, Kremer E, León A. 99mTc-ADP: agente potencial para la deteccion in vivo de tumores. Rev Esp Med Nuclear. 1993;12:266.

Plotnik DA, Wu S, Linn GR, Yip FCT, Comandante NL, Krohn KA, et al. In vitro analysis of transport and metabolism of 4’-thiothymidine in human tumor cells. Nucl Med Biol. 2015;42(5):470-4.

Vandermeulen E, Combes A, de Rooster H, Polis I, de Spiegeleer B, Saunders J, et al. Transplenic portal scintigraphy using 99mTc-pertechnetate for the diagno- sis of portosystemic shunts in cats: a retrospective review of 12 patients. JFMS. 2013;15(12):1123-31.

Pereira CT, Luiz Navarro Marques F, Williams J, Wlademir De Martin B, Primo Bombonato P. 99mTc-labeled dextran for mammary lymphoscintigraphy in dogs. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2008;49(5):487-91.

Hayden DW, Nielsen SW. Feline mammary tumours. J Small Anim Practice. 1971;12: 687-98.

Hanh KA, Adams WH. Feline mammary neoplasia: Biological behavior, diagno- sis, and treatment alternatives. Feline Oact. 1997;24:5-11.

Hassan BB, Elshafae SM, Supsavhad W, Simmons JK, Dirksen WP, Sokkar SM, et al. Feline mammary cancer. Vet Pathol. 2017 Jan;54(1):32-43. doi: 10.1177/0300985816650243. Epub 2016 Jul 11. PMID: 27281014; PMCID: PMC7212821.

Couto CG, Hammer AS. Oncology. In: Sherding RG, editor. The cat diseases and clinical management. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1994. p. 755-62.

de Oliveira LO, Rosemari de Oliveira T, Loretti AP, Rodrigues R, Driemeier D. Aspectos epidemiológicos da neoplasia mamária canina. Acta Scientiae Veteri- nariae. 2003;31(2):105-10.

Lamb CR. The canine and feline lung. In: Thrall DE, editor. Text book of veteri- nary diagnostic radiology. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2002. p. 431-47.

Morris JS, Nixon C, Bruck A, Nasir L, Morgan IM, Philbey AW. Immunohistochem- ical expression of TopBP1 in feline mammary neoplasia in relation to histologi- cal grade, Ki67, ERAlpha and p53. Vet J. 2008;175:218-26.

Castelo-Branco PSM, de Souza SAL, Lopes FPPL, Castro V, Sena P, Pereira JB, et al. Uso da 99mTc-timina na identificação de metástases de tumor venéreo trans- missível canino com apresentação cutânea. Pesq Vet Bras. 2008;28(8):367-70

Axiak-Bechtel SM, Maitz CA, Selting KA, Bryan JN. Preclinical imaging and treat- ment of cancer: the use of animal models beyond rodents. Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2015;59(3):303-16.

Peterson ME, Castellano CA, Rishniw M. Evaluation of body weight, body con- dition, and muscle condition in cats with hyperthyroidism. J Vet Intern Med. 2016;30(6):1780-9.

Stock E, Vanderperren K, Bosmans T, Dobbeleir A, Duchateau L, Hesta M, et al. Evaluation of feline renal perfusion with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and scintigraphy. PLoS One. 2016;11(10):e0164488.

Schmitz S, Götte B, Borsch C, Kunz C, Failing K, Neiger R. Direct comparison of solid-phase gastric emptying times assessed by means of a carbon isotope-la- beled sodium acetate breath test and technetium Tc-99m albumin colloid ra- dioscintigraphy in healthy cats. Am J Vet Res. 2014;75(7):648-52.

Castelo-Branco PSM, Motta-Silva D, Tancredi MGF, Nazério GCS, Gutfilen B, Fon- seca LMB. Uso da cintilografia com 99mtc-Timina na avaliação de mesotelioma em cão: relato de caso. Rev de Ci da Vida. 2006;26 Suppl:391-2.

Baez JL, Sorenmo KU. Pulmonary and bronchial neoplasia. In: King LG, editor. Respiratory disease in dogs and cats. St Louis, MO: Saunders; 2002. p. 508-15.