Gastrointestinal stromal tumors in a baboon, a spider monkey, and a chimpanzee and a review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are believed to originate from the intestinal pacemaker cells (interstitial cells of Cajal) or their progenitor cells. Spontaneous tumors have been reported in dogs, horses, rhesus, and a chimpanzee and they have been produced experimentally in mice and rats. GISTs represent a diagnostic challenge because they cannot be differentiated from non-lymphoid mesenchymal tumors without using human c-kit (CD117) immunohistochemistry.


METHODS
Three neoplasms were incidental findings at necropsy in the stomachs of a baboon and a spider monkey and in the rectum of a chimpanzee.


RESULTS
The GISTs were initially diagnosed grossly and histologically with hematoxylin and eosin as leiomyomas. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that all three were c-kit (CD117) positive.


CONCLUSIONS
These are the first reports of GISTs in the baboon and spider monkey and the second in a chimpanzee. The occurrence of GISTs in non-human primates may provide a unique opportunity to study these tumors.
Bommineni
Y R
YR
Southwest National Primate Research Center at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX 76227-5301, USA.
Dick
E J
EJ
Hubbard
G B
GB
D000818:Animals; D053819:Atelinae; D005260:Female; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010215:Papio; D018419:Primate Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000032:analysis
D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit