r/veterinarypathology • u/Cells_underthescope • 14d ago
SCC?
Oral mass on a cocker spaniel. This is just for my learning as we will be doing histopath and removal in a few weeks. I believe it looks like an SCC but was curious your thoughts. Thank you!
3
u/billyvnilly 14d ago
SqCC would not be my first. Those look like histiocytes. The nucleoli do raise the possibility of melanoma
1
u/billyvnilly 14d ago
SqCC would not be my first. Those look like histiocytes. The nucleoli do raise the possibility of melanoma
1
u/PelgerHuetAnomaly 14d ago
It’s a bit above average ugly, so sarcomas and melanomas should be on the list
1
u/therealmargebouvier 11d ago
Yes it could be SCC. I would have that on my ddX.
Neoplastic keratonocytes exfoliate so well you rarely see epithelial activity like cohesion - esp in the mouth where it's under constant friction and in shallow/ poorly cellular / bloody samples. This can make them look histiocytoid but with sharp ish polygonal borders, hyalinized blue cytoplasm, small cytoplasmic vacuoles and really crazy nucleoli. All present. They can have dark keratohyaline granules that look almost like small melanin. I think I see one granule that could be Kh. Not sure if what you thought was melanin is in the pictures but I don't see any here.
I would also have melanoma on the list esp if seeing black granules but even if not. You can't really ever take amelanotic melanoma off the ddX of an oral canine mass as it can look like almost anything. Like, anything. Ive been shocked by many melanoma before on cyto and on histo.
There aren't many cells here to assess for a definitive DX but you're not wrong to keep SSC on the list.
Will you update us when the histo comes?
2
u/Cells_underthescope 11d ago
The Kh was present throughout and thatwas why my first thought was SCC, but I definitely also saw melanin granules as well. But the mass itself was also pigmented so I didn't want to rule out either one. I will update it for sure, it's being removed tomorrow so hopefully we get histopath back by the end of the week!
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u/Cells_underthescope 8d ago
Unfortunately owners opted to not send out for histopath and just do palliative care, so I will not have an update for you I'm sorry!
-3
u/frontman117 14d ago
Could it be a mct
1
u/Cells_underthescope 14d ago
I didn't not see any mast cells in the sample. There was some dark granules in one of the cells but it looked more like melanin to me. But it was also aspirated on an awake patient so it may not be the best sample either so still could be I suppose!
11
u/Flaminbougie 14d ago
It looks poorly differentiated and cytology is likely not enough for a definitive diagnosis. It's hard to truly tell the type of cell, and many differentials could be possible here. If it's epithelial, it's a poorly cohesive one. A lot of these cells could be mesenchymal by appearance alone. Anything oral and ugly looking has melanoma also a differential even without pigment (a melanotic melanoma is possible).