Immunocytochemical evaluation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in epithelial tumors of dogs and cats

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a crucial role in metastasis of epithelial tumors; however, it is challenging to detect EMT by cytology. In the present study, EMT was visualized by fluorescence-immunocytochemistry (FICC). Air-dried smears from epithelial tumors of dogs (n=22) and cats (n=9) were stained using mouse monoclonal anti-E-cadherin and rabbit monoclonal anti-vimentin antibodies. Enzymatic immunohistochemistry (IHC) revealed that 51.6% (8/22 in dogs, 8/9 in cats) of the cases showed EMT. In dogs, FICC could detect EMT in 62.5% (5/8) of those cases. In cats, FICC could detect EMT in 100% (8/8) of the cases. In conclusion, the present FICC method could successfully detect EMT using conventional air-dried cytology smear slides.