Pathology and immunohistochemistry of a malignant nerve sheath tumor in a pig: case report and brief review of the literature

A 7-y-old sow with a large mass in the right upper thoracic limb was submitted for autopsy. Grossly, the mass encompassed the right humerus, elbow, and proximal radius and ulna. On cut surface, the mass was solid, lobulated, pale tan, and firm, with multifocal areas of necrosis and mineralization; it replaced the brachial musculature, invading and causing extensive humeral and ulnar osteolysis. The periosteum was roughened and irregular, and there was minor invasion into the elbow joint. Histologically, the mass was composed of densely cellular interweaving streams and bundles of pleomorphic spindle cells embedded in a scant fibrovascular stroma. There was moderate-to-strong, diffuse cytoplasmic or membranous immunoreactivity to claudin-1, laminin, and vimentin; weak-to-moderate, multifocal cytoplasmic and nuclear immunoreactivity to S100 and Sox-10, respectively, and weak cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for neuron-specific enolase. No neoplastic immunolabeling was detected with CD204, CD18, desmin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1, melan A, neurofilament, nerve growth factor receptor, smooth muscle actin, or muscle pan-actin. A specific immunomarker for definitive diagnosis of a malignant nerve sheath tumor (MNST) and its differentiation from other nerve tumors or other spindle cell tumors is still lacking in veterinary medicine, and case-by-case or interspecies differences in immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression can occur even when applying a broad diagnostic IHC panel. However, the gross, histologic, and IHC features in our case were consistent with a MNST, an exceedingly rare neoplasm of pigs