Lymphangiosarcoma in a cat

This report describes a 5-year-old female cat with lymphangiosarcoma arising within the dermis and subcutis of the caudal mammary region. The mass presented as a large, poorly demarcated and fluctuant swelling with bruising of the overlying skin. Histopathologically, the dermis and subcutis in the affected region were diffusely oedematous, haemorrhagic, and infiltrated by plump spindle cells that formed irregular vascular clefts and cavernous channels. Neoplastic cells were aligned in one or more layers along oedematous collagenous trabeculae. The vascular clefts and channels contained only a few or no erythrocytes. The neoplastic cells had moderate to marked nuclear pleomorphism and prominent nucleoli. Lymphocytes and plasma cells were scattered throughout the neoplasm and the adjacent soft tissues. Immunohistochemical labelling revealed the neoplastic cells to express vimentin, factor VIII-related antigen and the lymphatic endothelial cell marker PROX-1, but the cells did not express cytokeratin. The nuclei of many neoplastic cells expressed the proliferation marker Ki67. These histopathological and immunohistochemical findings confirmed the diagnosis of lymphangiosarcoma. This is the first report describing the usefulness of expression of PROX-1 for differentiating between angiosarcoma of lymphatic and vascular origin in cats.