Incidence rates of the most common canine tumors based on data from the Swiss Canine Cancer Registry (2008 to 2020)

Abstract

Monitoring neoplasms in standardized registries facilitates epidemiologic studies of risk factors for tumor development and predisposition. In an observational study, we determined incidence rates (IR) and malignant tumor incidence rate ratios (IRR) by age, sex, and breed in Swiss dogs using demographic data from the official Swiss dog registration database Amicus. The dataset analyzed included 54’986 tumors diagnosed by histology and cytology in four Swiss veterinary pathology laboratories between 2008 and 2020. Diagnoses were coded according to the Vet-ICD-O-canine-1 system. Most tumors occurred in the skin (n = 19’045; 34.64%), soft tissues (n = 11’092; 20.17%), and mammary glands (n = 7’974; 14.50%). The IRs for all and for malignant tumors were 775/100’000 dog-years at risk (95%CI 764–777) and 338/100’000 dog-years at risk (95%CI 333–342), respectively. Females (850; 95%CI 834–853) had a higher overall tumor IR than males (679; 95%CI 666–684). The highest tumor IR was found at 11 years of age (1’857; 95%CI 1’780–1’867). Potential novel breed-specific predispositions were uncovered, with high IRs for several benign and malignant tumors in Polski Owczarek Nizinnys (overall IR: 3’303; 95%CI 2’502–3’864) and high IRs for malignant tumors in Russian Black Terriers (melanomas: 345; 95%CI 138–708), Field Spaniels (adenocarcinomas: 376; CI95% 138–817), Dogo Argentinos (mast cell tumors: 844; CI95% 591–1‘169), King Charles Spaniels and Manchester Terriers (lymphomas: 319; CI95% 137–627 and 302; CI95% 98–704, respectively), Landseers (osteosarcomas: 74; CI95% 15–216), Bouvier des Flandres (hemangiosarcomas: 127; CI95% 26–371), and Bearded Collies and Cane Corso Italianos (gliomas: 91; CI95% 45–162 and 34; CI95% 7–99, respectively). Nordic hunting dogs had the highest (8.08; CI95% 3.55–16.7) and Chihuahueno the lowest cancer IRRs (0.42; 95%CI 0.31–0.57) compared to mixed breeds. In conclusion, the calculated IRs and IRRs revealed previously unknown predisposing factors, including novel breed-specific susceptibilities. The results may have implications for cancer screening, diagnostic work-up, breeding management and oncologic and translational research.