Dogs as a Model for Cancer

Abstract

Spontaneous cancers in client-owned dogs closely recapitulate their human counterparts with respect to clinical presentation, histological features, molecular profiles, and response and resistance to therapy, as well as the evolution of drug-resistant metastases. In several instances the incorporation of dogs with cancer into the preclinical development path of cancer therapeutics has influenced outcome by helping to establish pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics relationships, dose/regimen, expected clinical toxicities, and ultimately the potential for biologic activity. As our understanding regarding the molecular drivers of canine cancers has improved, unique opportunities have emerged to leverage this spontaneous model to better guide cancer drug development so that therapies likely to fail are eliminated earlier and therapies with true potential are optimized prior to human studies. Both pets and people benefit from this approach, as it provides dogs with access to cutting-edge cancer treatments and helps to insure that people are given treatments more likely to succeed.

Cachexia and Sarcopenia in Companion Animals: An Under‐Utilized Natural Animal Model of Human Disease

“…However, most cancers found in humans are also diagnosed in dogs or cats (e.g., melanoma; brain tumors; prostate, lung, bladder, and head and neck carcinoma). As with heart disease, there are breed predispositions: a few examples include osteosarcoma in the Irish Wolfhound, Scottish Deerhound, and Great Dane; histiocytic sarcoma in Flat-Coated Retrievers and Bernese Mountain Dogs; brain tumors in Boxers, Golden Retrievers, French Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, and Rat Terriers; and bladder cancer in the Scottish Terrier [56,57].…”

Comparative oncology: Integrating human and veterinary medicine

“…Cancer is a complex disease which develops naturally in canines (Starkey et al, 2005). It is the leading cause of death in canines of greater than 10 years of age (Adams et al, 2010;Gardner et al, 2016). Human cancers such as lymphoma, mammary carcinoma, osteosarcoma, soft tissue sarcomas are also diagnosed and reported in dogs Merlo et al, 2008).…”

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“…[36] However, dogs tend to develop more lymphoid and sarcoma tumor types rather than carcinomas, and compared to humans, they have varying drug sensitivity. In addition, dogs are patients, not experimental animals, and therefore, cannot be systematically studied in the same way other animals can be.…”