Nonhuman Primate Neoplasia

Increased emphasis has been put on the incidence and occurrence of neoplasia in nonhuman primatesNeoplasiaprimates especially for those naturally occurring cancers that are comparable to the human equivalent. Macaques, mostly rhesus macaques, remain the predominant species at many primate research centers, and much of the literature base is focused on that species grouping. More recently, select tumors of New World primates have received more attention, both from primate research centers and zoologic collections. While many tumors remain uncommon to rare, certain tumors are seen with increased frequency in aging or immunosuppressed animals. This chapter will focus on the diagnostic gross features of select nonhuman primate neoplasms complemented by histology and a basic overview of each neoplastic entity. Since a detailed overview of all nonhuman primate neoplasia is outside of the scope of this chapter, we refer the reader to other resources for more comprehensive overviews (Miller, Nonhuman primates in biomedical research. 2: diseases, 2nd edn. Elsevier, London, 2012).