Abstract

In the past 10 years flow cytometry has gained a role in veterinary medicine not only for research purposes but also in diagnostics. The development of a sufficient number of specific monoclonal antibodies allowed, at least in dogs, the successful introduction of flow cytometric immunophenotyping in several fields of veterinary medicine, of which oncology is the most promising. In particular flow cytometry has great advantages over other immunophenotyping techniques in the study of round cell tumors, due to its rapidity, feasibility and reduced costs. The presentation will discuss the advantages of flow cytometric immunophenotyping and the possible information provided for refining the diagnosis of lymphoid neoplasms, myeloid leukaemias, histiocytic disorders, and mast cell tumours. In particular, the presentation will focus on the use of flow cytometric immunophenotyping in diagnosing, staging, and monitoring canine lymphoma and lymphoid leukemia and discuss possible future perspectives.