Prevalence and distribution of canine neoplastic and non-neoplastic cutaneous lesions in Serbia: a retrospective study of 2432 Cases (2011 – Mid 2021)

Abstract

Cutaneous lesions, especially skin tumors in dogs, are among the most common lesions in this animal species. The aim of this study was to identify the most common types of canine cutaneous lesions, to determine the absolute and relative frequency of each type of cutaneous lesion, anatomical locations, mean age, as well as gender and breed distribution. The examination included all samples of cutaneous lesions in dogs obtained by surgical biopsy in veterinary clinics and examined at the Laboratory of the Department of Pathology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade from the 1^st January 2011 to the 1^st July 2021. In this period (126 months), a total of 2432 samples of cutaneous lesions were examined, of which 1984 (81.58%) were tumors (1037/1984, 52.27% benign and 947/1984, 47.73% malignant) and 448 (18.42%) non-neoplastic cutaneous lesions. The most commonly found cutaneous tumors were: mast cell tumor (17.34% of all tumors), histiocytoma (9.78%), papilloma (7.91%), lipoma (7.81%), squamous cell carcinoma (7.36%), trichoblastoma (4.44%), hepatoid adenoma (4.39%) and malignant melanoma (4.18%). The most common non-neoplastic cutaneous lesions were: follicular cyst(s) (35.04% of all non-neoplastic lesions), pyogranulomatous chronic dermatitis (23.88%), lymphocytic dermatitis (7.37%), hyperkeratosis (4.24%), and granulomatous dermatitis (3.79%). Our results substantially confirm previously reported data regarding cutaneous neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions in dogs, and provide updated information on their frequency, animal age, anatomic location and breed distributions.