Metastasizing oral squamous cell carcinoma in an aged pig

A 10-year-old, female, pot-bellied pig (Sus scrofa) experienced a 3-month history of reduced appetite, dysphagia, and weight loss. Clinical examination revealed a mass in the left part of the oral cavity extending from the hard to the soft palate. At necropsy, a firm, white, poorly demarcated ulcerated mass at the left hard and soft palate with metastases to the left retropharyngeal lymph node and the lung was observed. Additional findings included a uterine adenocarcinoma, a hepatocellular adenoma, and nodular hyperplasias in spleen and adrenal glands. Histologically, the poorly demarcated, infiltrative growing oral mass consisted of islands, cords, and single epithelial cells with moderate squamous differentiation. Cells were strongly positive for cytokeratin by immunohistochemistry. Similar cells were found in the left retropharyngeal lymph node and the lung. The present findings represent the first report of a metastasizing oral squamous cell carcinoma in a pig.