Diagnosis of Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor

The study was conducted for diagnosing transmissible venereal tumor (TVT) initially using cytology and later the results were confirmed with routine histopathology. Ten bitches and ten male dogs with tumor masses of about 4–7.5 cm in diameter seen on external genitalia were used as study material. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) with various cytological stains and routine histopathology with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining were performed. Grossly, the tumor masses appeared irregular, reddish, cauliflower like and had bleeding tendency. Cytologically, the tumor yielded a homogenous, sheet-like high cellular mass. Cytoplasm with punctate vacuoles, anisokaryosis with anisonucleoliosis and coarse to reticulate nuclear chromatin were prominent features. Histopathology showed sheets of round cells with nuclear and cytoplasmic variations. The study concluded that cytology could be used as a quick, rapid, field diagnostic technique in combination with histopathology for diagnosis of TVTs.