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. 2025 Mar 17;21(1):172.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-04634-x.

Canine lymphoma in Croatia: a fourteen-year retrospective study

Vida Eraghi  1 , Lidija Medven Zagradišnik  2 , Mavro Matasović  3 , Dunja Vlahović  1 , Doroteja Huber  1 , Andrea Gudan Kurilj  1 , Ivan-Conrado Šoštarić-Zuckermann  1 , Branka Artuković  1 , Ivana Mihoković Buhin  1 , Iva Ciprić  1 , Marko Hohšteter  4
Affiliations

Canine lymphoma in Croatia: a fourteen-year retrospective study

Vida Eraghi et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Lymphoma is the most prevalent hematopoietic system tumor in dogs and holds significant clinical importance in veterinary medicine. However, the epidemiology of canine lymphoma in Croatia remains understudied. This retrospective study aims to describe the predominant lymphoma types in this population over 14 years and evaluate associations with sex, breed, and age.

Results: Among 28,681 canine cases referred to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zagreb, from 2009 to 2023, a total of 374 cases (1.30%) were diagnosed with lymphoma. Of these, 282 cases (75.40%) were purebred dogs, with the most affected breeds being Golden Retrievers (23, 6.15%), Labrador Retrievers (23, 6.15%), German Shepherds (14, 3.74%), and Boxers (14, 3.74%). Bullmastiffs (8.14%) had the highest number of lymphoma diagnoses among the referred breeds, followed by Airedale Terriers (6.67%) and German Shepherds (5.09%). The Maltese, though a popular breed, showed a low lymphoma rate of 0.40%, indicating no notable predisposition. Multicentric lymphoma (59, 53.64%) was the most common anatomical classification, followed by cutaneous (33, 30.00%) and alimentary lymphoma (13, 11.82%). The mean age at diagnosis was 8.27 ± 3.07 years, with most cases occurring between 5 and 10 years (207, 55.35%). Males (216, 57.75%) were more frequently affected than females (158, 42.24%), except among Golden Retrievers, where 69.56% of cases were female.

Conclusion: Our study reveals that the distribution of dogs with lymphomas, including type and anatomical classification, in terms of breed, sex and age, is consistent with existing literature, except in the cases of Golden Retrievers, Basset Hounds, and Scottish Terriers. Further molecular and environmental studies are recommended.

Keywords: Canine lymphoma; Croatia; Cytology; Immunocytochemistry; Immunohistochemistry; Retrospective study.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (protocol number 640-01/12–17/22) and all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Microscopic images showing canine lymphoma: a Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) from a lymph node reveals intricate details of B-cell lymphoma using Modified Giemsa Stain (40x). b Immunocytochemistry of the FNA biopsy from the lymph node demonstrates CD20 positivity in B-cell lymphoma (40x). c Histopathological examination of the lymph node sample unveils distinctive features indicative of T-cell lymphoma, stained with H&E (40x). d Immunohistochemistry image showcases CD3 expression in T-cell lymphoma (40x)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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