Primary lung neoplasia in a beagle colony

As part of long-term pulmonary carcinogenesis studies in dogs, it is important to analyze the incidence of spontaneous lung neoplasia. Primary lung carcinoma incidence was determined in two control populations of Beagle dogs observed for their life spans. One population comprised 216 dogs (112 males and 104 females) that were controls for life span studies, and another comprised 182 dogs (50 males and 132 females) that were retirees from a breeding colony. Forty lung neoplasms were noted in the 398 dogs; 35 neoplasms were carcinomas classified as papillary adenocarcinoma (20), bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (9), adenosquamous carcinoma (5), or bronchial gland carcinoma (1). The other five neoplasms were a malignant fibrous histiocytoma, three adenomas, and a fibroma. The crude incidence of lung carcinomas averaged for both populations was 8.8% (35/398) and was dominated by a relatively high incidence of lung neoplasia in aged dogs, those dying after the median life span of 13.6 years.