%0 Journal Article
%A Fuertes Recuero, Manuel
%A García San José, Paula
%A Valdivia Lara, Edgar Guillermo
%A Suarez-Redondo, María
%A Penelo Hidalgo, Silvia
%A Arenillas Baquero, Mario
%A Camacho-Alonso, Laura
%A Peña Fernández, Laura Luisa
%A Pérez Alenza, María De Los Dolores
%A Ortiz Díez, Gustavo
%T Preoperative Clinical Predictors of Histologic Malignancy and Carcinoma Grade in 286 Canine Mammary Nodules from 92 Bitches: A Retrospective Study
%D 2026
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133202
%X Canine mammary tumours often present as multiple synchronous nodules, necessitating decisions regarding staging intensity and surgical planning prior to histology. We developed two preoperative nodule-level prediction models using only the medical history and physical examination of client-owned bitches with mammary disease, which were staged using the WHO-modified TNM system with a M0 classification (no distant metastasis) at the time of presentation. This retrospective study analysed 286 surgically excised mammary nodules from 92 dogs managed under a standardised mammary oncology protocol; those with inflammatory mammary carcinoma or distant metastasis were excluded. The outcomes were (i) malignant versus benign/non-neoplastic histology (for all nodules) and (ii) intermediate/high histologic grade (II-III versus I) among carcinomas. Separate multivariable Firth penalised logistic regression models accounted for within-dog clustering with dog-level bootstrap internal validation. Multiple imputation was used in a sensitivity analysis for missingness in the detection-to-surgery interval. Malignancy was confirmed in 87/286 (30.4%) of the nodules (86 carcinomas), including 35/87 (40.2%) that measured less than 1 cm. Among complete cases (153 nodules), malignancy was associated with age at neutering, maximum tumour diameter, owner-reported rapid growth and a detection-to-surgery interval of more than 3.5 months (an exploratory ROC-derived threshold) with good discrimination (area under the curve (AUC) 0.805; optimism-corrected 0.799) and acceptable calibration. Among carcinomas (83 specimen), previous mammary tumours, bloody nipple discharge and fewer synchronous nodules were associated with intermediate/high malignancy grade (AUC 0.859). Sensitivity analyses yielded directionally consistent estimates. Routinely available clinical information may provide interpretable preoperative risk stratification to support staging and surgical planning, pending external validation
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