Cytological and histopathological study of fibrosarcoma in perianal region of a Kangeyam cow

Introduction

Fibrosarcoma is a type of sarcoma, a malignant tumour of soft tissue that connects, supports or surrounds other structures and organs of the body. They are malignant tumours of fibroblasts that show no other evidence of cell differentiation. (Meuten, 2004; Maxie, 2007) [8,7] . Fibrosarcomas are tumours of mesenchymal origin that are rarely seen in the genital organs such as the vagina and penis in cattle (Maclachlan et al. 1996 and Hesaraki et al. 2010) [6,4] . Fibrosarcomas are common in dogs and cats but are rare in domestic animals (Kahn et al. 2005) [5] . Fibromas, fibro-papillomas and fibrosarcomas have been reported as mushroomshaped growths which are attached either by a broad base or by a long pedicle that allows part of the tumour to protrude from the vulva (Yeruham et al., 1999) [13] . They are usually pedunculated and can be removed surgically. The reports on occurrence of bovine fibrosarcoma compared with other tumors of cattle are very rare (Yeruham and Orgad, 1999; Musal et al., 2007; Birgit et al., 2004) [13,10,1] . The most common sites for fibrosarcoma are the skin and subcutis of trunk and extremities, the oral cavity and nasal cavity (Moulton, 1990) [9] . The present study describes the clinical features, gross and microscopic characteristics of a fibrosarcoma in a Kangeyam breed of cow.

Materials and Methods

The sample for the present study was collected from a Kangayam cow brought to the Large Animal Surgical outpatient ward, Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal-637 001, Tamil Nadu. The history and details of the animal were recorded. Samples for cytology were collected using fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and impression smear methods. These cytology smears were air-dried and fixed in methanol and stained with Leishman -Giemsa stain. The tissue samples for histopathology were obtained from surgically excised tumour masses of affected cattle. The masses were cross-sectioned and representative tissue samples were collected and fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for histopathology. The samples were processed by routine paraffin-embedding technique and sections were cut at 4 -5 μm thickness. The sections were stained by routine Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain for detailed histopathological study.

Results

Gross pathology

Macroscopically the tumour appeared as two hard irregular black colour masses in the perianal region (Fig. 1) measuring about 4.5 × 5.2 cm, 6 cm x 5 cm (Fig. 2). The cut section was homogenously dirty white in colour, with an obvious interwoven fascicular pattern. There were no foci of necrosis (Fig. 3).

Cytology

Impression smear revealed low cellularity with presence of large, plump cells individually or in clusters with pink collagenous material. Nuclear pleomorphism is prominent. Cells are less uniform with a high nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio. Fibrosarcoma exhibited circular or bipolar basophilic cytoplasm, elongated nuclei, marked anisocytosis, and small nucleoli (Fig. 4).

Histopathology

Microscopically, spindle shaped fibroblasts with elongated nuclei (Fig. 5) forming compact interlacing and intersecting bundles with long and wavy collagen fibres in between the tumour cells were noticed. The neoplastic fibroblasts haphazardly showed nuclear and cellular pleomorphism along with tumor giant cell (Fig. 6). The nuclei of neoplastic cells were large and hyperchromatic, elongated to oval shape and contained one or more prominent nucleoli. The neoplastic cells had a scanty cytoplasm with poorly defined cell boundaries. Numerous blood vessels and abundant collagen stroma with collagen fibres and fibrocytes arranged in a concentric manner around the blood vessels were observed.

Discussion

Tumours such as squamous cell carcinoma, leiomyoma, fibroma, fibropapilloma, hemangioma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyoma-sarcoma, and melanoma have been reported in the vagina or vulva of cows (Yeruham et al., 1999) [13] .

In the present study, fibrosarcoma was observed in the perianal region whereas Hamali and Ashrafihelan (2010) [3] reported fibrosarcoma in vagina of a cow. These observations varied with earlier reports by Maxie (2007) [7] , Meuten (2004) [8] and Sharma and Tiwari (2010) [12] and this is the first report of fibrosarcoma in the perianal region. Fibrosarcomas can be found in any location of the body but they are unusual mesenchymal tumors of the bovine vagina (Musal, 2007) [10] . In bovine, fibrosarcoma is also reported on the face (Britt et al., 1998) [2] , penis, and vagina (Musal, 2007) [10] , and in the skin. Premsairam et al. (2018) [11] reported fibrosarcoma in a sevenyear-old crossbred jersey presented with an ulcerated growth on the right fore teat with dribbling of milk. Sharma et al. (2017) [12] diagnosed a case of cutaneous fibrosarcoma at the ventral aspect of the neck and jaw. Gross examination revealed a large, ulcerated, nodular, intact and hard mass measuring 11 cm x 3 cm. Histopathological examination showed haphazardly arranged intersecting bundles of anaplastic spindle-shaped neoplastic cells within the collagenous stroma. Anaplastic cells were pleomorphic, having elongated hyperchromatic nuclei and varying in size and shape. Mitotic figures were also visualized.

Conclusion

The present study discussed the occurrence, cytological and histopathological characteristics of fibrosarcoma in the perianal region of a Kangayam cow. A follow-up study was performed after a six-month period; no evidence of recurrence of the tumour could be found and the general condition of the cow was normal.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe authors are grateful to the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu for the financial support and guidance during the study period.

References

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