Ear and nose squamous cell carcinomas in cats. A clinical case series and literature review

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a malignant tumor originating from epithelial cells. It presents in cats as crusty and bleeding lesions that commonly affect alopecic and white areas such as ear pinnae and truffle. Although several types of treatment have been described, currently the main option is surgery, so the aim of the study is to establish the response after surgery as the treatment of choice in 19 cats affected with SCC of both the nasal and auricular planes. Nine of them developed it at the auricular level, 2 died of causes unrelated to the disease and the remaining 7 are currently alive with a median survival time of 684 days. 10 cats presented lesions at the level of the truffle, 3 of them relapsed after surgery and it was decided to perform a new surgery and/or medical treatment, 1 case and 2 cases, respectively. Finally, one of them was euthanized due to disease progression. Even so, the mean survival time in these cases is 960 days. The main purpose of the study was to establish response, disease-free interval (DFI) and overall survival of cats suffering from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)localised in the nose and ears which have being treated with surgery.