Bronchoscopic debulking of a feline tracheobronchial carcinoma and long-term outcome

CASE SUMMARY: This report describes a 10-year-old female spayed Russian Blue cat presented with a 5 month history of respiratory difficulty. Thoracic radiographs were suggestive of a central airway obstruction. Bronchoscopy revealed a broad-base mass in the region of the carina. Bronchoscopic debulking was performed using a urinary catheter. Histopathology confirmed the presence of a tracheobronchial carcinoma. Survival from diagnosis was 16 months (480 days), over which time the cat underwent three endoscopic debulking procedures in combination with doxorubicin chemotherapy. RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a tracheobronchial carcinoma in a cat treated by endoscopic debulking with a urinary catheter and adjuvant chemotherapy with long-term survival time. A review of interventional bronchoscopy performed in humans and in veterinary medicine is described.