Vet. Pathol. 12: 468-469 (1975)
Infiltrative Transitional-Cell Carcinoma of Urinary Bladder in a Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
This is the first report of carcinoma of the urinary bladder in buffaloes. Tumours of the urinary bladder have occasionally been reported in cattle [3, 51 and are fairly common in man, accounting for approximately 2-3% of all visceral neoplasms [l]. In man the papillary non-infiltrating carcinoma of bladder is the commonest type, and non-papillary infiltrating carcinoma is the least common [2]. A 7-year-old pregnant buffalo had had retention of urine and dysuria for about 1 Y2 months before death. A catheter sample of urine was dirty-white. On rectal and vaginal examination the urinary bladder was felt as a hard mass, and cystitis was diagnosed. At postmortem examination the urinary bladder was firmly adherent to the pelvic wall. It contained thick, dirty-white urine. The wall, particularly the posterior half, including the neck, was abnormally thickened and firm. The mucous membrane showed irregular plaque-like ulcerated nodular masses that in the neck region closed the urethral orifice, leading to the retention of urine. Other gross findings were 1.0-cm soft white nodules in the omentum, pyelonephritis, dilatation of both ureters, acute ulcerative and fibrinonecrotic enteritis, haemorrhagic gastritis, and epicardial and endocardia1 haemorrhages. The characteristic feature in the urinary bladder was the presence of nests or cords of anaplastic transitional epithelial cells. These cells invaded the bladder wall under the mucous membrane and infiltrated deeply the lymph spaces (fig. 1). They showed extreme degrees of anaplasia with enlarged, hyperchromatic nuclei and several mitotic figures. The masses of neoplastic cells were separated by abundant fibrotic stroma in the bladder wall. The mucous surface superficially showed diffuse areas of necrosis and ulcers with infiltration by neutrophils.
Brief Communications
469
Fig. I. Transitional-cell carcinoma infiltrating in the lymph spaces in wall ofbladder. HE.
The nodules in the omentum showed masses of tumour cells similar in shape and arrangement to those in the urinary bladder. Most of the tumour masses were inside lymph spaces separated by abundant collagenous stroma. MUGERAet al. [5] did not find a bladder tumour in 32900 European cattle, whereas BROBSTand OLSON[3] found only three lymphomas and eight adenomas of the bladder in 82 235 cattle. The morphological changes described here closely resemble those in poorly differentiated infiltrative transitional-cell carcinoma of man [2]. Even in man, this variety of carcinoma of bladder is the least common; nearly 90% of all carcinomas are of the papillary type [4]. P. P. GUPTAand BALWANT SINGH Department of Veterinary Pathology Punjab Agricultural University Licdhiunu, Ptcnjub (India) ANDERSON,W.A.D.: Pathology; 5th ed., vol. I, p. 664 (Mosby, St. Louis 1968). BOYD,W. : A textbook of pathology; 8th Asian ed., p. 946 (Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia 1970). BROBST,D.F. and OLSON,C.: Neoplastic and proliferative lesions of the bovine bladder. Am. J. vet. Res. 24: 105-111 (1963). MOREHEAD, R.P.: Human pathology, p. 791 (McGraw-Hill, New York 1965). MUGERA, G. M.; NDERITO, P., and SORHEIM, A.O.: The pathology of urinary bladder tumours in Kenya zebu cattle. J. comp. Path. 79: 251-254 (1969).
Infiltrative Transitional-Cell Carcinoma of Urinary Bladder in a Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
This is the first report of carcinoma of the urinary bladder in buffaloes. Tumours of the urinary bladder have occasionally been reported in cattle [3, 51 and are fairly common in man, accounting for approximately 2-3% of all visceral neoplasms [l]. In man the papillary non-infiltrating carcinoma of bladder is the commonest type, and non-papillary infiltrating carcinoma is the least common [2]. A 7-year-old pregnant buffalo had had retention of urine and dysuria for about 1 Y2 months before death. A catheter sample of urine was dirty-white. On rectal and vaginal examination the urinary bladder was felt as a hard mass, and cystitis was diagnosed. At postmortem examination the urinary bladder was firmly adherent to the pelvic wall. It contained thick, dirty-white urine. The wall, particularly the posterior half, including the neck, was abnormally thickened and firm. The mucous membrane showed irregular plaque-like ulcerated nodular masses that in the neck region closed the urethral orifice, leading to the retention of urine. Other gross findings were 1.0-cm soft white nodules in the omentum, pyelonephritis, dilatation of both ureters, acute ulcerative and fibrinonecrotic enteritis, haemorrhagic gastritis, and epicardial and endocardia1 haemorrhages. The characteristic feature in the urinary bladder was the presence of nests or cords of anaplastic transitional epithelial cells. These cells invaded the bladder wall under the mucous membrane and infiltrated deeply the lymph spaces (fig. 1). They showed extreme degrees of anaplasia with enlarged, hyperchromatic nuclei and several mitotic figures. The masses of neoplastic cells were separated by abundant fibrotic stroma in the bladder wall. The mucous surface superficially showed diffuse areas of necrosis and ulcers with infiltration by neutrophils.
Brief Communications
469
Fig. I. Transitional-cell carcinoma infiltrating in the lymph spaces in wall ofbladder. HE.
The nodules in the omentum showed masses of tumour cells similar in shape and arrangement to those in the urinary bladder. Most of the tumour masses were inside lymph spaces separated by abundant collagenous stroma. MUGERAet al. [5] did not find a bladder tumour in 32900 European cattle, whereas BROBSTand OLSON[3] found only three lymphomas and eight adenomas of the bladder in 82 235 cattle. The morphological changes described here closely resemble those in poorly differentiated infiltrative transitional-cell carcinoma of man [2]. Even in man, this variety of carcinoma of bladder is the least common; nearly 90% of all carcinomas are of the papillary type [4]. P. P. GUPTAand BALWANT SINGH Department of Veterinary Pathology Punjab Agricultural University Licdhiunu, Ptcnjub (India) ANDERSON,W.A.D.: Pathology; 5th ed., vol. I, p. 664 (Mosby, St. Louis 1968). BOYD,W. : A textbook of pathology; 8th Asian ed., p. 946 (Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia 1970). BROBST,D.F. and OLSON,C.: Neoplastic and proliferative lesions of the bovine bladder. Am. J. vet. Res. 24: 105-111 (1963). MOREHEAD, R.P.: Human pathology, p. 791 (McGraw-Hill, New York 1965). MUGERA, G. M.; NDERITO, P., and SORHEIM, A.O.: The pathology of urinary bladder tumours in Kenya zebu cattle. J. comp. Path. 79: 251-254 (1969).
