Pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma in a four-month-old dog

A 4-month-old male Siberian Husky dog had a history of coughing, high fever and anorexia. Thoracic radiographs revealed increased radiographic density in the cranial and middle lobes of the right lung, with pleural effusion. Cytological examination of the pleural fluid suggested carcinomatous pleuritis. Right-side thoracotomy and resection of the cranial and middle lobes were performed. Histopathological examination of the resected tissue revealed an anaplastic large cell carcinoma. The tumour cells were positive for neuron specific enolase and also contained neuroendocrine granules. A particularly unusual feature of this case of pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma was the young age of the affected animal.