Research

Principal investigator: Dr. Anne C. Avery, Colorado State University
Canine chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a cancer of the lymphocytes that affects most dog breeds and is especially common in golden retrievers. The disease is often an incidental finding in an otherwise healthy older dog. In some cases, dogs can live for several years without treatment, but in others the dog may die within months of diagnosis. Identifying genetic markers that are able to differentiate between a leukemia with a good prognosis and one with a poor prognosis would help veterinarians better predict a patient's survival and help them make more knowledgeable treatment decisions.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Tomas Martin-Jimenez, University of Tennessee
As companion animals live longer, cancer has become one of the major causes of death. The goal of chemotherapy is to maximize the therapeutic response while minimizing toxic effects. Unfortunately, determining the appropriate dose that each dog needs is difficult. Factors such as age, weight and kidney function influence an animal's response to chemotherapy. This study will discover how these factors affect a dog's response to a chemotherapy commonly used to treat osteosarcomas and carcinomas. They will use this information to develop a dose calculator that would help veterinarians tailor the dose to the specific needs of individual dogs. This would provide more effective treatment and alleviate unwanted side effects.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Stuart C. Helfand, Oregon State University
Hemangiosarcoma remains one of the deadliest canine cancers. Despite treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery, dogs rarely live beyond six months after diagnosis. New approaches are needed to improve the survival time of dogs afflicted with this devastating disease. This study will expand on the research team's previous research into a novel class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors that may have the potential to control the growth of hemangiosarcoma. The results will help to clarify abnormalities that contribute to hemangiosarcoma proliferation and may ultimately lead to new treatment options for this aggressive cancer.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Dawn L. Duval, Colorado State University
Large and giant dog breeds have high risk for osteosarcoma, a highly aggressive bone cancer that spreads (metastasizes) to the organs. Despite aggressive treatment with surgery followed by chemotherapy, most dogs survive less than one year after diagnosis because the cancer recurs in other bones or organs, particularly the lungs. Understanding the biological mechanisms that contribute to the disease's spread and resistance to standard therapy would help veterinary researchers develop tailored therapeutic approaches, identify new drug targets and identify common genetic features that contribute to the disease's ability to spread - all of which would help increase survival rates of dogs affected by this common cancer.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Lauren A. Trepanier, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in dogs and sadly is fatal in most patients. Though the underlying causes of the disease aren’t understood, exposure to industrial pollutants and commonly used herbicides may increase a dog’s risk of lymphoma. Research shows that humans exposed to environmental chemicals have a higher risk for developing lymphoma, and genetic defects in the enzymes that remove environmental chemicals from the body increase this risk. This study will determine whether dogs with genetic defects in an important detoxification enzyme, called GSTT, are more likely to develop lymphoma. The results will provide insight into the genetic and environmental risk factors for lymphoma in dogs.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Cheryl A. London, Ohio State University
Mast cell tumors are the most common skin tumor in dogs, and they are often fatal. Unfortunately, identifying the tumors likely to behave in a malignant manner is challenging because little is known about how mast cells transform from benign to malignant. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small nonprotein-coding RNAs involved in the initiation and progression of cancer in humans. Researchers will analyze expression of miRNAs associated with aggressive mast cell disease and begin to define how they may promote aggressive progression of tumors in dogs. This will help veterinarians better determine the prognosis for dogs with these tumors and more effectively treat them.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Laura D. Garrett, University of Illinois
Lymphoma is one of the most common and fatal cancers in dogs. Most dogs treated with chemotherapy go into remission, but the cancer quickly develops drug resistance and recurs. Chemotherapy generally works by initiating apoptosis, a normal process in which cells undergo programmed death. Apoptosis occurs throughout life and is critical for developing and maintaining healthy tissues. Cancer cells develop ways to avoid apoptosis, which allows them to grow and survive in an uncontrolled fashion. Researchers will study a novel compound, PAC-1, that has been shown to induce apoptosis in tumor cells without the presence of chemotherapy. This study will evaluate safety and dosing, as well as efficacy, of PAC-1 in dogs with lymphoma. This compound holds great promise for the treatment of this disease, as well as other cancers.

---

Principal investigator: Aric M. Frantz, University of Minnesota
Cancer therapy for dogs has become more common, but treatment doesn’t always lead to long-term remission, and some therapies have debilitating side effects. A major reason for failure of conventional treatments may be their inability to eradicate cancer stem cells. These cells are self-renewing, can spread to new areas of the body and can give rise to daughter cells, which can rapidly divide. This means that even one cancer stem cell left behind after treatment can cause the cancer to return. Cancer stem cells appear to be less susceptible to traditional cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy. Researchers will study cancer stem cells to help them develop therapeutic strategies that target these cells and generate new, more effective treatment approaches with fewer side effects for dogs with cancer.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Paul Avery, Colorado State University
Lymphocytic leukemia in cats is a form of cancer where abnormal lymphocytes circulate in the blood and infiltrate the bone marrow. In other species, the severity of the disease can be predicted by knowing which type of lymphocyte is responsible for the cancer. Unfortunately, veterinarians have little information about the types of lymphocytic leukemia that occur in cats. Researchers will use techniques and tools currently used to diagnose leukemia in humans to analyze cats with elevated lymphocyte counts. They hope to determine whether the increase is due to inflammation or to leukemia and they will use the information to determine the prognosis associated with the various forms of the disease. The results will help veterinarians make more informed decisions when diagnosing and treating cats with lymphocytic leukemia.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. Rachael Thomas, North Carolina State University
Feline lymphoma is among the most common cancers affecting cats. It targets the gastrointestinal tract and other abdominal organs and is difficult to accurately diagnose and manage. Using new techniques, the researchers will develop genetic markers to help distinguish between lymphoma subtypes, which can appear very similar but behave very differently making treatment difficult. This study will provide knowledge of the underlying cause of this disease and help clinicians identify the optimal course of action for each cat affected by lymphoma.

---

Principal investigator: Dr. William C. Kisseberth, Ohio State University
About 10 percent of all tumors in cats are oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), making this the third most common tumor in cats. The location of the tumor combined with the pain it causes prevent the cat from eating, swallowing or grooming, and most cats survive less than three months after diagnosis. Although many types of treatment have become available, quality of life and survival times haven't improved. This study will investigate a new class of anti-cancer drugs that inhibit tumor growth and kill human OSCC and various canine cancer cell lines. These drugs may hold promise for treating this cancer in cats.

---