Melanocitoma limbare: caratteristiche cliniche, istologiche e possibile trasmissione ereditaria in un cane.

CLINICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL FEATURES AND POSSIBLE INHERITANCE OF CANINE LIMBAL MELANOMA: CASE REPORT Trio S. 1, Giudice C. 2, Pugliese A. 1 1Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Unit of Ophthalmology, University of Messina 2Department of Veterinary Pathology, Hygiene and Public Health, University of Milan Key words: canine, limbal melanoma, CAUM, inheritance SUMMARY Canine limbal or epibulbar melanoma is tipically a benign neoplasm, that may invade the cornea. These tumors are pigmented smooth lesions localized, usually, on dorsolateral quadrant of the eye. German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever and any heavily pigmented dogs appear to be predisposed. This report details the clinical and histological features of a limbal melanoma in the right eye of a 8-year-old female cross-breed. Since the dog’s mother was affected from Canine Anterior uveal Melanoma (CAUM) in the left eye (two years before), it can be hypothesized that limbal melanoma and CAUM are at least in part heritable and that the same genetic mutation (s) may be associated with melanomas affecting different ocular sites, as suggested in previous reports.