Metastasizing Hepatoma in a Hog (Sus Scrofa)

Abstract
The literature on the occurrence of hepatoma in animals was reviewed in another communication (1) in which were described two cases of primary carcinoma of the liver of cattle. From information obtained from published reports it is evident that primary carcinoma of the liver is not one of the common tumors of the lower animals. It has been observed in the following species: dogs, horses, cattle, cats, hogs, woodchucks, and chickens. The most comprehensive description of the disease appears to have been contributed by Trotter, who observed 119 cases among 39,704 cattle that were examined at necropsy during one year at a Glasgow, Scotland, abattoir (2). That the disease is of infrequent occurrence in swine is evident from the figures accompanying Sticker's report (3). Among 1,206 primary carcinomas of domesticated animals only 35 had their origin in the liver and but one of these occurred in a hog. My collection of neoplasms of swine consists at the present of 110 specimens and only 2 of these are tumors which arose from the parenchymal cells of the liver. One of the tumors, which was obtained several years ago, was situated rather deeply in the left central lobe. The tumor nodule was approximately 4 cm. in diameter and was icteric. Metastasis had not occurred and microscopically there was no convincing evidence of an aggressive malignant type of growth. This tumor was therefore considered a benign hepatoma. The other liver-cell tumor which was obtained from a hog was of particular interest because of the multiplicity of the hepatic lesions and the occurrence of pulmonary metastasis.