Incidence of skin tumors in dogs in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil (2007-2016)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to establish the incidence of skin tumors (cutaneous proliferative lesions of neoplastic or non-neoplastic nature) in dogs diagnosed by histopathological evaluation at the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory (LPV) of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in a 10-year (2007-2016) historical series. Of the 1945 histopathological diagnoses made in this period, 503 were skin biopsies, and 617 dermatological problems (87 dogs, 17.3%, presented more than one positive diagnosis) were found. Of the 617 diagnoses of dermatopathy, 546 (88.49%) were tumors and 71 (11.51%) were non-tumorous alterations. The 546 conditions more profoundly studied were from 453 dogs, 468 (85.7%) neoplastic and 78 (14.3%) non-neoplastic tumors. The 468 neoplasms were classified as follows: 230 benign (49.14%), 215 malignant (45.94%), 23 borderline (epitheliomas) (4.91%), 51.92% (243/468) mesenchymal, 42.74% (200/468) epithelial, 4.91% (23/468) melanocytic, and 0.43% (2/468) metastatic (mammary gland). The most commonly diagnosed neoplastic dermatopathies were mastocytoma (14.7%) and lipoma (7.48%). Among the 78 non-neoplastic conditions (14.3%), epidermal inclusion cyst (39.74%) and trichogranuloma (15.38%) were the most frequent. Canine dermatopathies accounted for 26% of the biopsy files of the LPV-UFBA. Distinct simultaneous dermatological problems were frequently found in the dogs assessed (one in six). Considering that these conditions can present with different cellular origin and biological behavior, it is crucial that histopathological evaluation be performed in fragments from the different cutaneous lesions.