Gross morphology and histopathological features of cutaneous neoplasia in camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Macroscopic and histopathologic lesions of the integumentary system were studied in 105 camels slaughtered in the central part of Iran. The gross appearance of lesions, particularly in cross section, was studied comparatively. Gross lesions consisted of focal-multifocal skin thickening with or without hair loss and crust formation, ulcerative lesions and nodules or masses on the epidermis or in the subcutis. From histopathological characteristics, skin tumours were classified as squamous papilloma (4%), fibropapilloma (4%), subcutaneous lipoma (2%), melanocytoma (2%), melanoma (2%), sebaceous gland adenoma (1%) and sebaceous ductal adenoma (1%). These results showed that the prevalence of cutaneous neoplasia in camels (15.24%) is not very rare, but it has not received adequate attention.