Serum α-1 acid glycoprotein and serum amyloid A concentrations in cats receiving antineoplastic treatment for lymphoma

OBJECTIVE To characterize serum α-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations at diagnosis and during treatment in cats with lymphoma. ANIMALS 16 cats with various anatomic forms of lymphoma and 25 healthy cats. PROCEDURES Blood samples were collected from healthy cats once and from cats with lymphoma at diagnosis and 2-week intervals until the 12th week of antineoplastic treatment. Serum harvested from blood samples was assessed for AGP and SAA concentrations. Differences in serum AGP and SAA values were investigated between healthy cats and cats with lymphoma (at diagnosis) and, for cats with lymphoma, between diagnosis and various points during treatment. RESULTS Serum AGP and SAA concentrations were higher in cats with lymphoma at diagnosis (median, 832.60 and 1.03 μg/mL, respectively), compared with those in healthy cats (median, 269.85 and 0.10 μg/mL). Treatment resulted in a gradual decrease in serum AGP concentration after 4 weeks and in SAA concentration after 8 weeks of treatment, and these concentrations returned to values comparable with those of healthy cats by 12 weeks of treatment, by which point all cats had achieved complete remission of the disease. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Serum AGP and SAA concentrations in cats with lymphoma were higher at diagnosis than after antineoplastic treatment. Decreases to values established for healthy cats corresponded with achievement of complete disease remission. Serum AGP and SAA may be useful protein markers for monitoring of antineoplastic treatment in cats with lymphoma.