Canine Cancers

The dog is an ideal large animal model for diagnostic and therapeutic studies and can be used to translate successes to human patients while providing compassionate care to animals and advancing the field of veterinary medicine. Pet dogs share their environment, and oftentimes their diet, with their owners.

In the field of immunotherapy, dogs offer an innovative model for translational research, as they present many of the challenges faced in scaling up therapeutic systems dependent on complex interactions between multiple cell types yet under more controlled settings.

They also allow for long-term assessment of efficacy and toxicities.

Canine clinical trials offer unique access to a rich source of spontaneously occurring, genetically and immunologically diverse cancers with the benefits of reduced time, expense, and regulatory hurdles of a human trial.

The similarities between canine and human cancers are increasingly being realized. The publicly available canine genome has propelled comparative genomics studies that have shown significant homology between dogs and humans for recognized cancer-associated genes including MET, IGF1R, mTOR, and KIT. Not surprisingly, cytogenetic abnormalities that define human cancers, i.e. BCR-Abl translocations in chronic myelogenous leukemia and RB1 deletions in chronic lymphocytic leukemia have been found in comparable canine cancers.

 

  • LYMPHOMA
    LYMPHOMA
    • LYMPHOMA
    LYMPHOMA
    • Lymphoma is the most common hematopoeitic tumor in the dog occurring with an estimated incidence of 21.7 cases per 100,000 dogs

    • Poorly defined, heritable risk factors account for an increased incidence of lymphoma subtypes in certain breeds of dog

    • Similar to the human disease, canine lymphoma consists of a heterogeneous group of tumors with different cells of origin and different clinical behaviors

    • Characteristic translocations and molecular abnormalities are shared between human and canine lymphomas

    • The REAL-WHO system is used to classify lymphomas in both humans and dogs

    • Diffuse Large B cell lymphoma accounts for most canine lymphoma cases

    • Standard of care treatment for DLBCL consists of CHOP-based chemotherapy

    • Although highly responsive to chemotherapy initially, relapse with drug resistant disease is common and median survival times of approximately 10-14 months are achieved for DLBCL

    • There is a need to improve the outcome of canine patients with lymphoma and the search for these treatments will serve to advance understanding of the disease and improve outcomes for both human and canine patients
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  • OSTEOSARCOMA
    OSTEOSARCOMA
    • OSTEOSARCOMA
    OSTEOSARCOMA
    • Osteosarcoma affects ~ 800 humans per year and up to 45,000 dogs per year

    • This malignant bone tumor affects most commonly older large and giant breed dogs although a second peak incidence occurs in dogs 18-24 months of age

    • Poorly defined heritable risk factors are responsible for the well-recognized strong breed predispositions towards disease in large and giant breed dogs

    • Clinical signs, biological and genetic factors, therapeutic options and metastatic potential of osteosarcoma are comparable with the pediatric disease.

    • Standard of care for dogs with osteosarcoma includes amputation of the affected limb and adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy protocols

    • Most canine patients develop pulmonary metastases and succumb to their disease within 10-12 months of diagnosis

    • Novel treatments are needed to improve the survival of dogs with osteosarcoma and development of these treatments will increase our understanding of the disease and provide improved treatment options for dogs and children with osteosarcoma
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  • MALIGNANT MELANOMA
    MALIGNANT MELANOMA
    • MALIGNANT MELANOMA
    MALIGNANT MELANOMA
    Description Content
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  • GLIOBLASTOMA
    GLIOBLASTOMA
    • GLIOBLASTOMA
    GLIOBLASTOMA
    • The incidence of primary brain tumors in dogs is 10-20 per 100,000 dogs and the incidence of primary malignant brain tumors in humans is 6-7 per 100,000

    • Astrocytomas represent 17-28% of all primary central nervous system tumors in dogs

    • 5% of astrocytomas in the dog are glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)

    • Presenting clinical signs of primary brain tumors in dogs include mentation changes, pacing, circling and seizures

    • Human and canine GBM share similar histopathological features including glial cell pseudopalisading, multifocal microvascular proliferation, serpentine patterns of necrosis and marked cellular pleomorphism, anisokaryosis and mitotic figures

    • Current methods of treatment include surgical debulking, radiation and chemotherapy and survival times range from 3-12 months with these standard of care treatments

    • Poor response of canine patients with primary brain tumors to current standard of care provides an opportunity to evaluate new therapies in controlled clinical trials to improve the outcome for both canine and human patients with primary CNS tumors.
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