+ General Considerations

  • Apocrine sweat gland tumors are more common as eccrine sweat glands only occur in the footpads
  • Apocrine glands are numerous throughout the body and they are subclassified according to their location
  • Sweat gland tumors account for 3.6%-9.0% of feline skin tumors and 2.0% of canine skin tumors
  • ADC (50%-90%) is more common than adenoma

+ Sweat Gland Cysts

  • Common and contain serous material
  • Site: head

+ Sweat Gland Adenomas

  • Mean age > 8 years
  • Sex predisposition: male
  • Breed predisposition: Cocker Spaniel
  • Gross appearance: cystic with minimal inflammation and no ulceration in cats, and solitary, well-circumscribed, and slow growing with ulceration common (> 50%) in dogs
  • 25% have evidence of lymphatic infiltration
  • Sites: head and neck
  • Treatment: surgery
  • Prognosis: good

Sweat Gland Adenocarcinoma

+ Feline Sweat Gland Adenocarcinoma

  • Mean age > 12 years in cats
  • Sites: head
  • Prognosis: guarded with metastasis reported to regional lymph nodes, digits, liver, and lung

+ Canine Sweat Gland Adenocarcinoma

  • Mean age > 8 years in dogs
  • Breed predisposition: Golden Retriever
  • Sites: back, flank, and feet in dogs
  • Prognosis: guarded to good in dogs with 8.3% local tumor recurrence rate and metastasis rare

SWEAT GLAND TUMORS