RECURRENCE AND METASTASES OF A BASAL CELL CARCINOMA IN A VARIABLE SQUIRREL (CALLOSCIURUS FINLAYSONI FLOWERI): A CASE REPORT

Abstract

A dead, 9-year-old, female, Variable squirrel, weighing 190 g, had a skin swelling in the left inguinal area. Surgical excision of a similar skin mass in the right inguinal area had taken place 87 days previously. The squirrel had showed signs of severe dyspnea and inappetence for 7 days prior to death. At necropsy, as well as the skin mass in the left inguinal area, metastases were found in the inguinal lymph node and the lung together with a hemothorax. The tumor based on the clinical data, macroscopic and microscopic lesions was diagnosed as a
basal cell carcinoma, Immunohistochemistry showed a positive result for pancytokeratin but was negative for vimentin, indicating that the cellular origin of the tumor was epithelium.