Narrow Results

Concentrations of the chemotherapeutic agent, cis-diamminedichloro-platinum(II) (CDDP) in NFSa fibrosarcoma tumors were investigated using a conventional PIXE analysis on the basis of an internal standard method to study enhancement of antitumor effects caused by proton therapy combined with CDDP treatment. Results of the PIXE analysis showed that platinum concentration of the tumors treated with CDDP at a single dose of 10 mg/kg was 2.0±0.1 µg/g and persisted at the level at least 6 hours after the administration. The present study demonstrated that the presence of CDDP in the tumor caused an enhanced therapeutic effect on tumor growth delay when CDDP treatment was combined with post proton-irradiation in comparison with CDDP treatment alone or proton therapy alone.

A 2.5-year-old intact female hamster (Phodopus campbelli) was referred to the VMTH of NCHU on May 7th, 2013 for a swelling of left abdomen and significant decrease in appetite. Physical examination revealed the enlarged abdomen slightly affected the patient's mobility. A firm mass was palpated in the left abdominal cavity. Tentative diagnosis was an abdominal mass. An exploratory laparotomy and splenectomy was performed together with the removal of a mass of 1 × 1 × 0.8 cm in size and 3.6 g in weight. Grossly, the mass was well capsulated and covered by a sac which filled with blood-like discharge. Histologically, diagnoses were made according to the results of hematoxylin and eosin, Masson's trichrome and vimentin immunohistochemistry stained sections. Based on the histological characteristics, the final diagnosis was a splenic fibrosarcoma in a Campbell's hamster. The patient is fully recovered after surgery but the hamster died of natural causes four months later.

A 11-year-old female Koala showed anorexia, lethargy and weakness. Hematology, blood chemistry and urinalysis were non-specific. Computed tomography (CT) revealed ascites and masses within the abdomen, and the volumes of some masses increased 20% during a 10-week period. At necropsy, there was 115 mL of clear ascites, and visceral lesions were located mainly in the spleen and liver. The spleen was diffusely enlarged by infiltrative white firm neoplastic tissue with irregularly protuberant nodules, of 0.2 to 5 cm, that had totally effaced the parenchyma. The liver contained multiple random scattered softer nodules, of 0.2 to 2.0 cm, some of which were protruding. One nodule of < 1 cm was noted on the mesentery. Histologically, the neoplasm was composed of a low cellularity of elongated fusiform cells distributed amongst an abundant collagenous matrix. Tumor cells were stained positive intracytoplasmically for vimentin and negative for α-smooth muscle actin. This fibrosarcoma (FS) likely originated from the spleen, with secondary metastasis to the liver, from which via transcoelomic implantation spread to the diaphragm and mesentery. This is considered a rare report of primary splenic FS in a captive koala.