Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the nasal cavity in a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Gorazd Vengušt ^1* Diana Žele Vengušt ¹ Carlo Cantile ² Mitja Gombač ¹ Kristina Tekavec ¹ Tanja Švara ¹

• ¹ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• ² Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy

Neuroendocrine tumors of the nasal cavity are rare in both animals and humans. This report describes the macroscopic, histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of a neuroendocrine tumor in a three-year-old female roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) that was shot due to a facial deformity caused by an oval, firm , exophytic lesion effacing the left frontal and parietal regionslesion protruding in the left frontal and parietal regions. Longitudinal sectioning of the skull revealed a nasal cavity tumor that had invaded the cribriform plate, the rostral bones of the skull, the rostral aspect of the cranial cavity and the frontal sinuses and extended through the lacrimal, sphenoid and zygomatic bones into the subcutaneous tissueThe skull section revealed a nasal cavity tumor with invasion through the cribriform plate and the rostral bones of the skull into the rostral part of the cranial cavity, the frontal sinuses, and through the lacrimal, sphenoid and zygomatic bones into the subcutis. Histopathologically, the tumor consisted of neoplastic cells forming sheets, nests, trabecular and cribriform structures separated by a delicate small to moderate amount of fibrovascular stroma. Mitoses were rare. Based on the histopathological and immunohistochemical findings, a neuroendocrine carcinoma was diagnosed. Based on thorough database searchesTo our knowledge, this is the first known case of a nasal neuroendocrine carcinoma in a large terrestrial wild animalroe deer.