Anal Sac Gland Carcinoma in 64 Cats in the United Kingdom (1995-2007)

Abstract

A retrospective study was performed to characterize 64 cases of anal sac gland carcinoma (ASGC) in cats. All ASGCs diagnosed between 1995 and 2007 at a private diagnostic laboratory in the UK were reviewed. Apocrine gland origin was confirmed in a subset of these tumors by immunohistochemistry and the use of the glandular cytokeratin antibody (CAM 5.2). Associated clinical, gross, and histologic features were compared with those of canine ASGC. Anal sac gland carcinoma accounted for 0.5% of all feline skin neoplasms. Thirty-nine of the cats with ASGC were female, with a female: male ratio of 1.56. Fifty-two (81.1%) of the 64 tumors were in Domestic Shorthair cats, 5 (7.8%) in Siamese, 3 (4.8%) in Domestic Longhair, 2 (3.1%) in Burmese, and 1 (1.6%) each in a Birman and a Persian cat. Significant differences in prevalence of ASGC among breeds were not detected. Cats ranged in age from 6 to 17 years (median and mean age, 12 years). More than three quarters of the affected cats for which postsurgical outcome was known were euthanatized or died as a direct consequence of the neoplasm, with a median survival of 3 months. Survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 19 and 0%, respectively.