title: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia transformation into high-grade lymphoma: a description of Richter's syndrome in eight dogs.
abstract: Richter's syndrome (RS) is the development of an aggressive lymphoma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). In humans, RS occurs in 2-20% of CLL, which transform into diffuse large B-cell lymphoma but reports in dogs are scarce. This study retrospectively describes eight dogs with CLL progressing into RS. A database including 153 dogs with CLL (93T CD8+ and 55 B-CLL) was interrogated and RS was demonstrated in eight cases (representing 5.2% of total CLL): two with T-cell (2.2% of T CLL) and six with a B-cell immunophenotype (10.9% of B-CLL). When RS occurred, lymphocytes were decreased compared to CLL. Five dogs had anaemia and two dogs thrombocytopenia. Frequent clinical signs included lymph node swelling, coughing, vomiting, neurological signs and weight loss. Independently from the therapy, RS was associated with a short survival (median 41 days). RS should be considered as an unfavourable evolution in canine CLL.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Comazzi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9882-2867
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riondato
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poggi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stefanello
authors.affiliation: Centro Oncologico Veterinario, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marconato
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Albonico
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gelain
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000662:veterinary; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Richter syndrome; chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; dog; flow cytometry; high-grade lymphoma; transformation