Immunophenotyping of an Unusual Mixed-Type Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma in a Dog

A 6-year-old female Maltese dog presented with a cervical mass without pain. The tumor was surrounded by a thick fibrous tissue and consisted of an osteoid matrix with osteoblasts and two distinct areas: a mesenchymal cell-rich lesion with numerous multinucleated giant cells and a chondroid matrix-rich lesion. The tumor cells exhibited heterogeneous protein expression, including a positive expression of vimentin, cytokeratin, RANKL, CRLR, SOX9, and collagen 2, and was diagnosed as extraskeletal osteosarcoma. Despite its malignancy, the dog showed no sign of recurrence or metastasis three months after the resection. Further analysis of the tumor cells revealed a high expression of proliferation- and metastasis-related biomarkers in the absence of angiogenesis-related biomarkers, suggesting that the lack of angiogenesis and the elevated tumor-associated fibrosis resulted in a hypoxic tumor microenvironment and prevented metastasis.

Automated summary

This case study reports an extraskeletal osteosarcoma in a Maltese dog, which did not result in recurrence or metastasis after resection. Analysis revealed high expression of proliferation- and metastasis-related biomarkers in the tumor cells, along with the absence of angiogenesis-related biomarkers, suggesting a hypoxic tumor microenvironment preventing metastasis.