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A large proportion of current research focuses on mapping the pathomechanism of neoplastic diseases. It has already been established, based on Rudolf Virchow’s proposal (1863), that chronic inflammation plays a pivotal role.

The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) signaling pathway has a crucial role in regulating and mediating innate and acquired immunity, cell adhesion, differentiation, proliferation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Its activity can be induced by, for example, chronic stress, ionizing radiation, bacteria and viruses, or cytokines. Due to its multifaceted mechanisms of action, its inhibition may represent a promising complementary therapeutic option, potentially reducing tumor malignancy.

Since canines are considered a suitable model in the study of several human tumor types, a more extensive body of literature is available compared to cats. The only significant study to date in cats examined pathway activity in feline injection-site sarcoma (FISS), as well as the in vitro efficacy of a potential therapeutic agent (DHMEQ—dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin).

In our research, based on the database of the Department of Pathology at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, we collected samples from cats submitted 01.2020-03.2025 with diagnoses of soft tissue sarcoma, lymphoma, mastocytoma, haemangiosarcoma, thyroid carcinoma, and apocrine adenocarcinoma. After immunohistochemical staining, evaluation was carried out by the QuPath analytical software. In our study, we investigated the translocation of the p65 gene from the cytoplasm to the nucleus—this indicates the activation of the NF-kB signaling pathway.

In several cases, paraffin-embedded histological samples were missing (referred cases); these were not included in the study—the final sample size was 215, of which 85 cases showed nuclear expression higher than 5%. This was significant (p<0.0001) in lymphoma, adenocarcinoma, mastocytoma, and soft tissue sarcoma, although due to the low sample size of mastocytomas (n=14), the significance is questionable. Logistic regression revealed that the probability of nuclear expression in male cats significantly increased with age.

Overall, it can be concluded that in the case of soft tissue sarcomas, lymphomas, and apocrine adenocarcinomas, it may be worthwhile in the future to perform in vitro DHMEQ treatment on primary cell cultures and to investigate the potential for clinical application in anti-tumor therapy.