Are Bernese Mountain Dogs the only breed affected by histiocytic diseases?
Bernese Mountain Dogs have a staggering incidence of histiocytic diseases, especially the reactive histiocytic diseases – cutaneous and systemic histiocytosis, and the neoplastic histiocytic diseases – the histiocytic sarcoma complex. These diseases are also familial in this breed. Bernese Mountaind Dogs do not appear to have any higher incidence of histiocytoma – a largely benign histiocytic neoplasm of the skin. There are several other breeds that have similar high incidence of histiocytic diseases; these include Rottweilers, Golden Retrievers, and Flat Coated Retrievers. Pedigree analyses have not been exhaustively conducted in these breeds, or if they have, the data is not yet published. Flat Coated Retrievers appear to have a higher incidence of problems with the full spectrum of histiocytic diseases, including histiocytomas which are normally benign in all breeds. We have seen multiple histiocytomas in this breed with metastasis to local lymph nodes and beyond. A group of related
