[The frequency of neoplasms in dogs dissected in Berlin]

A retrospective study of relative frequencies and relative risks of cancer of 7,169 dogs which were necropsied between 1981 and 1990 at the Institute of Veterinary Pathology of the FU Berlin was performed. In the sample cancer as cause of death accounted for 24.08% of all necropsied dogs. The mean age of dogs with cancer was 10.2 years while dogs without cancer died at a mean age of 5.3 years. Relative risks of cancer were 1.16 for females and 0.86 for males. Cancer was found in 41.9% of all necropsied boxers, which showed the highest relative risk (1.81) of all breeds. Lymphatic and hematopoietic organs and mammary glands were the most frequent site for tumors. Altogether it could be shown that the most frequent tumors were of epithelial origin (43.91%).