Neoplasie colon – rettali del cane e del gatto: esperienze di un quinquennio

Objective: To contribute to the understanding of colorectal neoplasms with the personal clinical experience of five years, and to compare it with the current literature. Material and methods: Twenty five primary tumors of the colon and rectum have been diagnosed in 12 dogs and 13 cats in our clinic from January 1999 to December 2003. The histopathologic diagnosis has been obtained by endoscopic biopsy in 8 cases, ultrasound-guided biopsy in 12 cases and laparotomic biopsy in 5 cases. Only benign and malignant primary tumors of the colon and rectum have been included in the study (secondary intestinal multicentric tumors and metastatic tumors were not included). Results: Twenty five tumors of the colon and rectum have been found in 12 dogs and 13 cats. The following neoplasms were diagnosed in the dog: one rectal adenomatous polyp with malignant tranformation of the pedicle, 2 rectal adenomatous polyps, 3 rectal adenocarcinomas, one colonic adenocarcinomas, 2 rectal leiomyosarcomas, 2 colonic lymphomas and one cecal fibrosarcoma. In the cat, 11 out of 13 lymphomas were localised in the colon, one in the ileocecocolic junction, and one in the rectum. Conclusion: Our clinical data are similar to those reported in literature. In the dog, all benign epithelial neoplasms of the rectum were polypoid; one polyp showed malignant transformation. Among malignant epithelial neoplasms of the colon and rectum, 2 out of 3 cases were observed in predisposed breeds. The most common sarcoma was leiomyosarcoma. A cecal fibrosarcoma was also observed, a rare neoplastic type in the bowel and apparently never reported in this site. All neoplasms observed in cats were lymphomas, the most common tumors of the colon and rectum in this species. Unlike the dog, no epithelial neoplasia were observed in the cat.