-
- Posted Thursday February 4, 2016
Dogs accelerate the advance of new cancer treatments for both pets and people
National review shows studying cancer in dogs offers 'a unique opportunity' for helping patients, saving time and decreasing costs
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Feb. 4, 2016 - A Science
Translational Medicine review suggests integrating dogs with
naturally occurring cancers into studies of new drug therapeutics
could result in better treatments for our four-legged friends while
helping inform therapeutic development for human cancers.
The review, conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the
National Academy of Science, including faculty at the Translational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen), hopes to close the gap
between human and canine cancer research, and accelerate the
knowledge developed by studying cancer in both people and pets, a
field known as comparative oncology.
"We are hopeful this analysis will be useful in developing and
advancing an agenda for the field of comparative oncology," said
Dr. Jeffrey Trent, TGen President and Research Director, and one of
the authors of the study. "Many canine breeds develop naturally
occurring cancers, such as breast cancer and melanoma, that share
remarkable genetic similarities with their human equivalent. This
allows us a unique opportunity to have what we learn in the human
be of help to the dog, and what we learn in the dog to be of direct
help to human patients with these cancers."
Dr. William Hendricks, an Assistant Professor at TGen specializing
in canine research, agreed: "It has been remarkable to see first
hand the similarity in genetic changes, called mutations, between a
dog with melanoma and a human patient with the same disease.
Looking through the lens of genetics is giving us new targets and
offering new hope for improving our treatment of humans and
dogs."
This "gap analysis" is the result of a National Academies
Institute of Medicine workshop - The role of Clinical Studies
for Pets with Naturally Occurring Tumors in Translational Cancer
Research - held June 8-9, 2015, in Washington, D.C.
"Low cancer drug development success rates and the associated high
attrition rates of new drugs, particularly late in human clinical
trials, are indicative of a key shortcoming in the preclinical
development path," said Dr. Chand Khanna, a former Senior Scientist
at NCI's Center for Cancer Research, who holds both a Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in Pathobiology, an
interdisciplinary field devoted to basic research into the
mechanisms of disease.
"Strong similarities between the biology of cancer in dogs and
humans have been shown, including patterns of response to therapies
and cancer recurrence," said Dr. Khanna, the review's senior
author. "Specific types of cancer are functionally identical
between dogs and humans, and in some cases the cancers can be
considered indistinguishable between the species."
Findings the authors report include:
• A limited understanding of the field of
comparative oncology in the cancer drug development
community.
• The value of comparative oncology can be seen
not only in accelerating drug development and eventual FDA
approval, but also in saving time, costs and risks to patients by
providing early assessments of clinical trials that should be
discontinued.
• Studying canines to answer questions about
drug target biology - before and after exposure to novel treatments
- should be a priority.
• Comparative oncology also should prioritize
the development and validation of biomarkers in circulating blood,
and guide decisions about optimal drug combination
strategies.
• There is a need to include veterinarians in
clinical practice and in the pharmaceutical industry, physician and
veterinary medical associations, and aligned philanthropic groups,
in the discussion of opportunities presented by comparative
oncology.
• Tissue samples of canine cancers stored in
tissue banks and bio-specimen repositories "should now be leveraged
in order to rapidly accelerate comparative oncology."
Importantly, this review found that the knowledge of genetic
alterations that drive human cancers far exceeds knowledge of those
same alterations in canine cancers. More than 30,000 human cancers
have been genomically profiled, while genomic sequencing data has
been published for fewer than 50 canine cancers.
"Our understanding of the genomic landscape of canine cancer is
widely considered to be the single largest gap currently present in
comparative oncology today," said Dr. Amy LeBlanc, Director of the
Comparative Oncology Program at NCI's Center for Cancer Research,
and the review's lead author.
Other recommendations included in the review: Veterinary schools
are best positioned and prepared to successfully recruit and manage
canine patients for comparative oncology studies; the successes in
immunotherapy in human cancer treatments should be extended to
canine clinical trials; and a centralized registry of canine
clinical trials should be created, providing easy access for pet
owners and veterinarians.
This "Focus" article, published Feb. 3, 2016, in Science
Translational Medicine is titled: Perspectives from man's
best friend: National Academy of Medicine's Workshop on Comparative
Oncology: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/8/324/324ps5.
# # #
About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org. Follow TGen onFacebook,LinkedInandTwitter @TGen.
Press Contacts:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]