Evaluation of leukocyte count in dogs with lymphoma submitted to the Madison-Wisconsin protocol by conventional technique and flow cytometry

Abstract

Lymphoma is the most common hematopoietic tumor in dogs and one of the malignant tumors with higher occurrence in this species. It is a great experimental model due to its resemblance with the non- Hodgkin lymphoma in humans. Considering the importance of the overall changes that result from to this kind of neoplastic tumor and those due to polichemotherapy this study aimed to evaluate the absolute leukon count and the total count of CD45+ cells in the blood of 25 dogs with lymphoma. Findings were crosschecked since diagnose and then once weekly during the first eight sessions of the Madison-Wisconsin chemotherapic protocol. Total granulocyte, lymphocyte and monocyte counts obtained from a conventional automatic counter and by flow cytometry were compared. Results did not reveal statistically significant changes between the two techniques.