An adult male Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) was diagnosed with invasive, poorly differentiated grade 9/9 mammary gland adenocarcinoma from a subcutaneous mass that was surgically removed during a routine preventative health examination. The tumor was tested for estrogen and progesterone receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (HER2 FISH). Whole blood was tested for breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) and breast cancer 2 (BRCA2) genes. The orangutan was treated orally with two common human breast cancer drugs; tamoxifen and anastrozole. The orangutan lived for 4.5 yr postdetection, dying from an unrelated cause. This is the first reported case of mammary gland adenocarcinoma in a male great ape.
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1 March 2017
MAMMARY GLAND ADENOCARCINOMA IN A MALE BORNEAN ORANGUTAN (PONGO PYGMAEUS)
Nancy A. Carpenter,
Erika K. Crook
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Anastrozole
BRCA
mammary gland adenocarcinoma
orangutan
Pongo pygmaeus
tamoxifen