Curative Surgical Excision of a Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated with the Digit of an American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
An adult female American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) presented with an exophytic multilobular soft tissue mass involving the majority of the second left front digit. An excisional biopsy was performed under general anesthesia using a buffered tricaine methanesulfonate bath. The entire digit, including the distal, middle, and proximal phalanges, and associated mass were surgically removed by dislocation at the metacarpophalangeal joint. The incision was closed with 4-0 polydioxanone using two horizontal mattress sutures and the frog was recovered in a freshwater bath. Histological examination revealed a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma with a mitotic rate of less than one per high power field. Six months following surgery the frog was fully recovered and returned to use in an educational program. The frog survived four years postsurgery with no gross or histological evidence of neoplasm recurrence.Abstract
Adult female American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) with an eruptive multilobular soft tissue mass involving the majority of the second digit. (A) The frog is anesthetized and being prepared for surgery. (B) Mass involving the majority of the second digit.
Dermal mass in a bullfrog composed of islands and cords of neoplastic epithelial cells that keratinized centrally and form keratin pearls. H&E, 4× Bar = 0.2 mm.
