Malignant glomus tumour in a German shepherd dog

Abstract

A solitary mass, 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 2.0 cm in size, was found in the subcutis adjacent to the ischial tuberosity of an 8-year-old male German shepherd dog. The excised mass was not encapsulated and the cut surface was solid, grey-white and had multiple red areas suggestive of haemorrhage. Microscopically, the neoplasm was composed of epithelioid cells interspersed with venous vessels of various sizes and irregular bundles of spindle-shaped tumour cells with mucinous stroma. The nuclei showed anisokaryosis and many mitotic figures were noted. Immunohistochemically, the majority of tumour cells were positive for alpha smooth-muscle actin and vimentin, but negative for cytokeratin, desmin, S-100 and factor VIII-related antigen. Ultrastructurally, the tumour cells contained irregular nuclei, few mitochondria, few rough endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasmic myofilaments of intermediate density, pinocytotic vesicles and distinct basal lamina. Based on these pathological findings, the diagnosis was malignant glomus tumour.