Uterine adenocarcinoma with feline leukemia virus infection

Cho, Sung-Jin; Lee, Hyun-A; Hong, Sunhwa; Kim, Okjin

Uterine adenocarcinomas have been reported in most domestic species but are considered rare except in rabbits and cows [1] . The prevalence of uterine adenocarcinoma in rabbits after 5 years of age has been reported to be 79% [2] . Because rabbits are induced ovulators that are often housed individually, laboratory rabbit and possibly many pet rabbits are under almost constant estrogen stimulation. Virgin rats have a similar high incidence of endometrial adenocarcinomas [3] . Cats, another species that exhibit induced ovulation, may also be subjected to long periods of unopposed estrogen stimulation, but the frequent practice of neutering queens, and the tendency to periodically breed or induce ovulation in sexually intact queens, may explain the low prevalence of endometrial adenocarcinoma in cats [4] . In women, postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy, estrogen in particular, is considered a risk factor for endometrial adenocarcinoma; both estrogen-dependent and higher-grade estrogen-independent adenocarcinomas are recognized [5] .