A retrospective study of 586 tumours in Brazilian cattle.
Records from 6,706 necropsy examinations of cattle performed over a 45-year period were surveyed and 586 cases of neoplasia were identified. The organ system most frequently affected by neoplastic disease (n=139 cases) was the alimentary tract. This finding was attributed to a high incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the upper alimentary tract associated with the chronic ingestion of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). This carcinogenic plant was also associated with a relatively high incidence (n=35 cases) of urinary bladder tumours (enzootic haematuria). Tumours of the alimentary tract were followed, in decreasing order of frequency, by tumours of the skin and subcutis (n=129 cases), haemopoietic tissue (n=101 cases), the eye and periorbital tissues (n=88 cases), the urinary system (n=44 cases), the female reproductive system (n=21 cases), the endocrine system (n=16 cases), the liver and pancreas (n=12 cases), the nervous system (n=6 cases), the respiratory system (n=6 cases) and the mammary gland (n=1 case). The primary anatomical location of 16 tumours was undetermined.
Department of Pathology, Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Campus Camobi, 97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
R B
RB
Lucena
D R
DR
Rissi
G D
GD
Kommers
F
F
Pierezan
J C
JC
Oliveira-Filho
J T S A
JT
Macêdo
M M
MM
Flores
C S L
CS
Barros
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012189:Retrospective Studies