Histopathological Investigation of Feline Oral Squamous
Cell Carcinoma and the Possible Role of Papillomavirus Infection
H Ozturk-Gurgen1, O Almilli2, G Sennazli1
and M Majzoub-Altweck2†
1Istanbul
University-Cerrahpasa, Department of Veterinary Pathology,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
TR-34500 Istanbul, Turkey;
2Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich, Institute of Veterinary Pathology,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, DE-80539 Munich, Germany;
*Corresponding author:
hazal.ozturkgurgen@iuc.edu.tr
Abstract
The histopathological
subtyping and grading of oral squamous cell carcinoma are well established in
human medicine, but there are currently no standard classification and grading
schema used for oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats. In this study, it was
aimed to investigate different subtypes and grades of feline oral squamous cell
carcinoma and the possible role of the papillomavirus infection in the
progression of this tumor by using the methods of histopathology,
immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy. Out of the 32 tissue
samples, conventional (14/31; 43.75%), verrucous (8/32; 25%), papillary (5/32;
15.62%), acantholytic (3/32; 9.37%), and adenosquamous (2/32; 6.25%) subtypes of the tumor were determined in the affected cats. Grading of the
tumor was performed according to Anneroth’s and Bryne’s systems and revealed
that there was no relationship between histopathological subtypes and grades of
the cases. Histopathologic findings suggestive of papillomavirus infection were
determined not only in verrucous and papillary subtypes as seen in human
medicine, but also in different other subtypes of the tumor. Moreover,
immunopositivity for papillomavirus was obtained from the conventional,
acantholytic, and adenosquamous subtypes of the tumor. In conclusion, the
relationship between grading and subtypes of oral squamous cell carcinoma
observed in this study showed differences in comparison with the human
counterparts. The effect of papillomavirus infection in the progression of oral
squamous cell carcinoma remained uncertain.
To Cite This Article:
Ozturk-Gurgen H, Almilli O, Sennazli G and Majzoub-Altweck M, 2022.
Histopathological investigation of feline oral squamous cell carcinoma and the
possible role of papillomavirus infection. Pak Vet J, 42(1): 95-101.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.077