In human medicine, genetic mapping of tumors that have already metastasized has added years to the lives of cancer patients who otherwise would have been near death. By understanding the exact nature of the genetic mutation that caused the cancer, scientists have been able to develop drugs that target malignant tumors with incredible precision, effectively pushing back the advance of life-threatening disease. Now, veterinary researchers have begun the process of pinning down the genomes of tumors in dogs.
Scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, looked at the DNA of tumors in 69 dogs of many different breeds (or mixed breeds) with an ambiguous cancer diagnosis. It was not clear based on previous tests whether the dogs actually had cancer and, if so, exactly how it should be treated.
The genomic testing proved helpful 86 percent of the time, providing either diagnostic clarity, information about therapy, or information about a dog’s prognosis — how well it was expected to do. More research is called for, but down the line such clinically useful information will allow dogs with cancer to live longer and healthier rather than succumb all too soon to a disease that is one of our pets’ major killers.
