Histological Characterization of Feline Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma

Abstract

Urothelial (transitional cell) carcinoma (UC) is the most common type of bladder cancer in humans, dogs and cats, although the incidence in cats is comparatively low. This retrospective study details the histopathological features of UC of the urinary bladder in 38 samples from 35 cats. Of the 38 samples, eight had a papillary architecture and in nine the tumour cells formed tubular or acinar structures. Tumour cell invasion of the bladder wall varied from confinement within the lamina propria or submucosa to transmural or extending to the serosa. The tumour stroma varied from sparse to abundant, with a scirrhous, myxomatous or mucinous appearance in eleven cases, three cases and one case, respectively. The degrees of tumour cell necrosis and inflammation were highly variable. We confirm that the histopathological features of bladder UC in cats have many similarities to the corresponding tumours in dogs and humans.

Keywords: cat; comparative pathology; histology; transitional cell carcinoma.