Introduction

Thermography is an innovative diagnostic tool, capable of detecting superficial temperature changes of the skin, induced by increased local inflammation and metabolism, neoangiogenesis and tissue necrosis, which frequently occur in tumors. In this study, we used infrared thermography to characterize different biological groups of skin neoplasm.

Methods

Twenty-two dogs with 34 confirmed skin neoplasms by histopathologic evaluation were enrolled, divided in 9 groups: mast cell tumor (MCT - 10), soft tissue sarcoma (STS - 4), cutaneous carcinoma (CC - 3), melanoma (M - 2), perianal neoplasms (PN - 4), mammary gland tumors (MGT - 4), malignant trichoepithelioma (MT - 1), hemangiosarcoma (HSA - 2) and cutaneous benign neoplasms (CBN - 4). Thermography assessed temperatures at central spot (SpT) and area (AT) of tumors and healthy skin (SpNT; ANT).

Results

Higher values of SpT (37.9°C) and AT (38.0°C) were observed in MGT and lower in HSA (30.6°C; 32.0°C). Most groups have mixed patterns of temperature along the nodule extension, even though STS had a greater number of hot tumors and PN, HSA and CBN of cold tumors. In CBN, temperature distribution was always homogeneous. MCT, STS, CC, M, PN and MT showed an increased halo of peripheral temperature, with extensions ranging from 0.6 to 6.8 centimeters.

Conclusion

Thermographic assessment of cutaneous neoplasms was a powerful tool for the complementary diagnosis of skin neoplasms, characterizing certain groups of tumors. A higher number of tumors must be analyzed, but so far the method provides important information about factors of malignancy and preoperative planning for the veterinary oncologist.

Funding Information

There were no fundings for the development of this research project.