Cytomorphological and immunohistochemical features of lymphoma in ferrets

Twenty ferrets with histopathologically diagnosed lymphoma were classified cytomorphologically and immunohistochemically. According to site of origin, multicentric, gastrointestinal, mediastinal and cutaneous lymphomas accounted for 8 (40%), 9 (45%), 2 (10%) and 1 case (5%), respectively. According to the National Cancer Institute Working Formulation (NCI-WF), low-, high- and intermediate-grade lymphomas accounted for 4 (20%), 4 (20%) and 12 cases (60%), respectively. The 4 low-grade lymphomas showed no mitotic figures, whereas all 4 high-grade lymphomas exhibited > or = 3 mitotic figures (median,6). Higher grade thus appears to be associated with a higher number of mitotic figures. Immunohistochemical examination of 18 specimens, excluding 2 insufficient specimens, showed that 16 (88.9%) and 2 (11.1%) lymphomas were of T-cell origin and B-cell origin, respectively. According to the combination of the NCI-WF and immunophenotypes, all 4 low-grade lymphomas (2 multicentric, 1 gastrointestinal, and 1 cutaneous lymphoma) were classified as diffuse small lymphocytic lymphoma of T-cell origin. Of the 12 intermediate-grade lymphomas (6 multicentric, 4 gastrointestinal, and 2 mediastinal lymphomas), 11 were classified as diffuse mixed-cell lymphoma, and 1 as diffuse large cell lymphoma. Of these 11 lymphomas, 2 (both multicentric) were of B-cell origin, 7 (3 multicentric, 3 gastrointestinal, 1 mediastinal) were of T-cell origin, and 2 (1 multicentric, 1 mediastinal) were of unknown cell origin. The remaining 1 lymphoma (gastrointestinal) was of T-cell origin. All 4 high-grade lymphomas (gastrointestinal) were classified as diffuse immunoblastic lymphoma of T-cell origin.