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