VCO 2020

Question 1

What is the sub ventricular zone?

Answer 1

Area under the ependyma of the lateral ventricles that contain the largest population of neural stem cells

Question 2

Is tumour involvement of the subventricular zone associated with outcome?

Answer 2

Yes, involvement resulted in shorter tumour specific survival, and a higher rate of progression and CNS-metastasis (306 vs. 719 days)

Question 3

Does gliomas have an ability for local metastasis?

Answer 3

Yes- these tumour cells have a high capacity to migrate. they can be multifocal at presentation, recurring distantly form the initial tumour

Question 4

What is the accuracy of MRI for evaluation of intracranial disease for predicting the type of primary brain tumours?

Answer 4

70%

Question 5

Have any prognostic factors on MRI been identified for gliomas?

Answer 5

No, reduced OS been reported in one paper for cystic tumours and one paper report reduced survival with larger tumours

Question 6

Which chemotherapetuic drug has been used as adjuvant treatment for glioma in humans?

Answer 6

Temozolomide (effect not proven in dogs)

Question 7

Status of which repair protein has been associated with increased survival in human patients with glioblastoma?

Answer 7

O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyl-transferase encoded by MGMT-gene. Reduced efficacy of the gene increase sensitivity to temozolomide treatment.

Question 8

In the systemic review and meta-analysis on metastatic low grade mast cell tumours by Bae et al: which two variables were significantly associated with increased risk of death?

Answer 8

1. Distant metastasis had significantly higher risk of death compared to regional metastasis alone
2. Dogs not undergoing surgery had an increased risk of death compared to dogs that had surgery as a part of their treatment regime.

Question 9

Name the most important prognostic factors for MCTS:

Answer 9

Breed, anatomic location, clinical stage, grade, MI, Ki67 index, silver nucleolar organiser region count (kit mutation and localization depending on how you consider them (see review on these markers from 2019).

Question 10

Which cut of for surgical margins were suggested by Saunders et al 2020, when using a modified proportional margin approach for removal of MCTs?

Answer 10

Upper limit of 2 cm.

Question 11

T of F: According to Saunders et al, tumour size and grade strongly influence the size of histologic tumour free margins when using the modified proportional margin approach for removal of cutaneous MCTs

Answer 11

F - size and grade did not influence the weight chance of obtaining free margins.

Question 12

What was the difference in 18 F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) vs. CT for detection of lymph node metastasis in dogs with oral MM?

Answer 12

The use of PET was most successful when clinical information was available resulting in a 100% sensitivity and 94% specificity.

CT performed similarly but had a lower sensitivity 83% and higher specificity 94%

Question 13

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for SNL in dogs with CMCT revealed that ___% of the cases, clinicians would have correctly predicted the SLN identified.

Answer 13

55%

PS. additional staging did not reveal distant mets in any patient that had clean LN.

Question 14

What was the reported metastatic rate in dogs diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic carincoma?

Answer 14

78%

Question 15

What was the OS for dogs diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic carcinoma??

Answer 15

1 day

Question 16

Which potentially prognostic biomarkers were identified by Liu et al in 2020 for canine malignant melanoma?

Answer 16

Kynurenine 3 monooxygenase (KMO) and STAT3, increased expression were associated with reduced survival rate in canine patients and expression of KMO was associated with increased STAT expression.

Question 17

What is the most common post-operative complication after matxillectomy in cats?

Answer 17

Hyporexia (20% of the complications)

Question 18

What are the 3 main tumours identified in the tonsils?

Answer 18

SCC (55%), LSA (17%) and MM (12%)

Question 19

T/F Primary melanoma can arise from the tonsils

Answer 19

T

Question 20

What is the most likely route of metastasis to the tonsils?

Answer 20

Hematogenous, no evidence of lymphatic flow on CT

Question 21

What is percentage of COX-2 over expression has been documented in canine cutaneous and oral melanoma, and what is the suspected effect of COX-2 in the tumour genesis?

Answer 21

Cutaneous 40% and oral 30% - suspected to be a key regulator for immune cell infiltration and that it may drive tumour mq activation.

Question 22

Which papilloma virus play a role in tumourigenesis of feline sarcoids?

Answer 22

Bovine papillomavirus 14

Question 23

What was the recurrence rate for completely and incompletely resected feline sarcoids?

Answer 23

1 year and 2 year for complete was 0% and 7%

1 year and 2 year for incomplete was 67% and 67%

Question 24

T/F CT lymphangiography SLN pattern is associated with metastasis in dogs with melanoma and MCT

Answer 24

F- neither pattern nor attenuation is indicative of a metastatic process.

Question 25

How does methylation of LINE-1 in oral melanoma impact prognosis?

Answer 25

Hypomethylation was found in melanoma from the oral cavity, while normal mucosa was methylated. Low LINE-1 methylation was associated with worse prognosis, however it did not reach statistical significance.

Question 26

What is the MST for cats treated with definitive intent protocols for sinonasal carcinoma?

Answer 26

2 papers- one 600 days and one 450 days.

Question 27

Which negative prognostic factors were identified in feline sinonasal tumours treated with definitive RT protocols?

Answer 27

Treatment intention

Question 28

Randall et all compared vital dye injection, indirect CT lymphography and lymphoscintigraphy to identify the SLN, which technique was more successful?

Answer 28

Lymphocintigraphy, identified 20/20 compared to 11/20 with CT.

Question 29

Abnormal protein glycolization has been associated with malignant transformation - expression of which antigen in canine gastric carcinoma?

Answer 29

STn antigen - expression is linked to neoplastic transformation and may be a useful marker o gastric cancer progression in dogs

Question 30

T/F Feline FcaPV-2 (papilloma virus) may play a role in development of a proportion of oral SCC in cats

Answer 30

True

Question 31

What was the result of an anti-agiogentic treatment (bleomycin, piroxicam and thalidomide) with or without accelerated RT for cats with oral SCC?

Answer 31

PFI was significantly better in cats receiving RT 180 d vs 30. OST 140 vs 40. 30% of the cats receiving RT developed grade 3 toxicity. The treatment protocol was not recommended for use.

Question 32

What are the two known telomere maintenance mechanisms frequently active in cancer cells?

Answer 32

1. Telomerase activity - activation of the enzyme telomerase is the most common pathway 2. Alternative lengthening of telomeres (only used in 4-11%)

Question 33

Does canine OSA express alternative lengthening of telomeres?

Answer 33

ALT activity has been documented for 20% of the dogs, and these had shorter survival than cancers not expression ALT.

Question 34

What are B-symptoms in canine lymphoma and do their presence influence prognosis?

Answer 34

Defined as the presence of fever, weight loss over 10 % of BW and resting tachypnoea, and were significantly associated with survival (160 days vs. 460 days) lymphoma specific survival.

Question 35

T/F Seropositivity for vector borne diseases have been associated with development of lymphoma

Answer 35

No- no association was identified

Question 36

What is the most common immunophenotype of small intestinal lymphoma in dogs?

Answer 36

T-cell

Question 37

Which biomarkers may help to decide if a dog with solitary small intestinal lymphoma should have surgery?

Answer 37

Ki67 and MGMT - but there was no significant OS in surgery vs. chemo protocol

Question 38

T/F OSA of the digit and metatarsal/carpal bones have a worse prognosis than OSA of the long bones.

Answer 38

F - they had a better survival than seen for appendicular OSA

Question 39

Is D-dimer a potential biomarker with prognostic value in NHL in dogs?

Answer 39

Elevated D-dimer (over 0.5 ug/mL) was significantly associated with poorer PFS and OS

Question 40

Name the published single and multi-agent rescue protocols for feline lymphoma

Answer 40

Doxo-based, single agent lomustine, MOMP, DMAC, MOPP and LMC (lomustine, methotrexate and cytarabine)