Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 10, 2025
Isolation and Culture of Primary Endothelial Cells from Canine Arteries and Veins
Published on: November 18, 2016
Interleukin-6 and thrombopoietin concentrations in dogs with carcinoma with and without thrombocytosis
Adrienne Cheney1, Andrew D Woolcock1, Abhijit Mukhopadhyay1
1Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Background:
Carcinoma-associated thrombocytosis involves tumor production of mediators such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and thrombopoietin (TPO) that increase thrombopoiesis and may play a role in tumor evasion and metastasis. Carcinoma-associated thrombocytosis is described in people, but has not been described in dogs.
Hypothesis/Objectives:
Evaluate the concentrations of IL-6 and TPO in dogs diagnosed with carcinoma with or without thrombocytosis. We hypothesized that IL-6 and TPO concentrations would be higher in dogs with carcinoma compared to healthy dogs, and that IL-6 and TPO concentrations would be higher in dogs with carcinoma and thrombocytosis when compared to dogs with carcinoma and normal platelet counts.
Animals:
One-hundred sixteen dogs: 63 with carcinoma and 53 healthy control dogs.
Methods:
Complete blood count was performed in all dogs, and they were stratified for sub-group analysis based on the presence or absence of thrombocytosis (platelet count > 500 103/µL). Serum TPO and IL-6 concentrations were measured by ELISA. Results of selected numeric variables were compared using Wilcoxon rank sum tests for pairwise comparisons. A value of P < .05 was considered significant.
Results:
Twelve of the dogs with carcinoma (12/63, 19.0%) and none of the healthy control dogs (0%) had thrombocytosis. Thrombopoietin concentrations (median [range]) were significantly higher in dogs with carcinoma when compared to controls (87.42 pg/mL [0 to >600] vs 15.99 pg/mL [0 to >600], P < .001). Interleukin-6 concentrations (median [range]) were not different between dogs with carcinoma and healthy control dogs (9.70 pg/mL [0-181.53] vs 3.03 pg/mL [0-280.77], P = .15). In dogs with carcinoma, the TPO and IL-6 concentrations were not different between dogs with thrombocytosis and dogs with normal platelet count.
Conclusions And Clinical Importance:
Thrombopoietin concentrations were significantly higher in dogs with carcinoma, regardless of platelet count. Thrombopoietin is likely to be 1 of multiple factors that can impact platelet number, production, and consumption in dogs with carcinoma.
