Do Canine Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Resemble Human Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours? A Comparative Morphological and Immunohistochemical Investigation

Gallbladder Neuroendocrine Neoplasms in Dogs and Humans

Gallbladder neuroendocrine neoplasms (GB NENs) are among the rarest cancers reported in humans and dogs. This review provides a detailed review of the canine GB NEN literature and an interspecies comparison of demographics, clinical pathophysiology, pathobiology, and therapeutic response of GB NENs. The aim of this work is to explore the relevance of dogs as a spontaneous model for human GB NENs.

[Comparative pathology in oncology-Best practice]

Comparative experimental pathology is a research field at the interface of human and veterinary medicine. It is focused on the comparative study of similarities and differences between spontaneous and experimentally induced diseases in animals (animal models) compared to human diseases. The use of animal models for studying human diseases is an essential component of biomedical research. Interdisciplinary teams with species-specific expertise should collaborate wherever possible and maintain close communication. Mutual openness, cooperation, and willingness to learn form the basis for a fruitful collaboration. Research projects jointly led by or involving both animal and human pathologists make a significant contribution to high-quality biomedical research. Such approaches are promising not only in oncological research, as outlined in this article, but also in other research areas where animal models are regularly used, such as infectiology, neurology, and developmental biology.

Models in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors derived from multiple neuroendocrine origin cell subtypes. Incidence rates for pNENs have steadily risen over the last decade, and outcomes continue to vary widely due to inability to properly screen. These tumors encompass a wide range of functional and non-functional subtypes, with their rarity and slow growth making therapeutic development difficult as most clinically used therapeutics are derived from retrospective analyses. Improved molecular understanding of these cancers has increased our knowledge of the tumor biology for pNENs. Despite these advances in our understanding of pNENs, there remains a dearth of models for further investigation. In this review, we will cover the current field of pNEN models, which include established cell lines, animal models such as mice and zebrafish, and three-dimensional (3D) cell models, and compare their uses in modeling various disease aspects. While no study model is a complete representation of pNEN biology, each has advantages which allow for new scientific understanding of these rare tumors. Future efforts and advancements in technology will continue to create new options in modeling these cancers.

Use of indocyanine green near-infrared lymphography to detect sentinel lymph nodes in a dog with a malignant insulinoma: a case report

Malignant insulinoma is the most common type of neuroendocrine tumor found in the pancreas of dogs. Canine insulinoma displays malignant behavior with a high rate of metastasis. The most common sites of metastases are the draining lymph nodes, which are also the primary location sites for the recurrence of functional disease. However, identifying metastatic nodes can often be complicated, as the pancreas is drained by numerous lymphatic centers, and clinical enlargement or structural changes may not always be present in metastatic nodes. Additionally, unaltered nodes are frequently small (a few millimeters) and can be hard to distinguish from the surrounding tissues. Therefore, lymphadenectomy is generally recommended for affected dogs. Unlike in human medicine, there are currently no established strategies for lymph node resection in dogs with malignant insulinoma. This report presents a technique for identifying and removing sentinel nodes using indocyanine green and near-infrared lymphography (NIRFL) during surgery. A total of six sentinel nodes were detected and resected with this method. This technique could provide a more structured approach for lymph node resection in affected dogs and potentially in humans in the future. However, its therapeutic benefits must be evaluated in a larger cohort of cases.

Canine insulinoma as a model for human malignant insulinoma research: Novel perspectives for translational clinical studies

Insulinomas are considered rare indolent neuroendocrine neoplasms in human medicine, however when metastases occur no curative treatment is available thus, novel therapies are needed. Recently advances have been made in unraveling the pathophysiology of malignant insulinoma still major challenges hinder the development of a functional model to study them. Canine malignant insulinoma have similar recurrence and a poor prognosis as human malignant insulinoma. Additionally, both human and canine patients share extensively the same environment, tend to develop insulinoma seemingly spontaneously with an etiological role for hormones, at a similar incidence and stage of lifespan, with metastasis commonly to liver and regional lymph nodes, which are unresponsive to current therapies. However, the occurrence of metastases in dogs is as high as 95% compared with only 5-16% in human studies. From a comparative oncology perspective, the shared features with human insulinoma but higher incidence of metastasis in canine insulinoma suggests the latter as a model for human malignant insulinomas. With the common purpose of increasing survival rates of human and veterinary patients, in this review we are going to compare and analyze clinical, pathological and molecular aspects of canine and human insulinomas to evaluate the suitability of the canine model for future translational clinical studies.