title: A dog pedigree with familial medullary thyroid cancer.
abstract: Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) is defined as concurrent neoplasia or hyperplasia in more than one endocrine gland. MEN is well known in humans and has also been reported in small animals. We report on a dog family of a mixed breed with Alaskan malamute as a major influence, where three members developed thyroid carcinomas and another dog had clinical signs mimicking the other three but without a confirmed diagnosis. The age of onset of the tumour was between 96-109 months. Clinical, biochemical and immunohistochemical examinations revealed that the affected individuals typically demonstrated symptoms including calcitonin positive thyroid cancer, hypothyroidism and chronic dermatitis. In addition, elevated serum calcium and multinodular adrenocortical hyperplasia were demonstrated in a single member. The diagnosis observed is similar to the familial form of medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) in human. This is the first report of FMTC in dog. Up to 95% of FMTC and MEN2 is known to be caused by activating mutations in the RET gene. The dog Ret gene was analysed as a candidate in this pedigree. The complete dog Ret genomic sequence was predicted in silico. The lack of demonstratable Ret mutation suggests the involvement of alternative predisposing mutation in this pedigree. The unique occurrence of familial MTC makes this potentially an important model in further defining the genetic basis of MTC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital-Solna, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jia-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Catharina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Weng-Onn
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Höög
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Von Euler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D018276:Carcinoma, Medullary / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D019295:Computational Biology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009377:Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010375:Pedigree; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000235:genetics*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D002118:Calcium