According to recent findings, kisses from man’s best friend could provide DNA keys to finding treatments for rare types of cancers. Thanks to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), there is a place called the Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium where there is a program designed to study cancers in dogs to further understand what causes these serious sicknesses.
This research was approved in a 2-year, $4.3 million federal stimulus grant to the Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium. It is also funded by $1 million in grants from businesses like PetSmart and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
In order to do the studies, they use voluntarily donated saliva, blood and tumor samples from a variety of privately-owned dogs in hopes to find a link between canine cancers and human cancers. They aim to find a treatment for the dogs and then move their findings to people. TGen and VARI also study neurological disorders, behavioral disorders, hearing loss and other conditions that humans and canines have in common.
“Rare diseases in humans also show up in dogs. By studying the DNA of canines, we expect to more quickly discover the genomic causes of disease and more quickly find ways to better treat dogs and people,” said Dr. Mark Neff, director of the TGen-VARI Program for Canine Health and Performance.
Researchers are also working in collaboration with experts at the National Cancer Institute’s Pediatric and Genetics Branches and Comparative Oncology program.
The study will focus on sarcomas which are cancers that originate in the connective tissues. Because this is such a rare human disease, there hasn’t been much research done on it. The project kicked off with the study of hemangiosarcoma (angiosarcoma in humans) which is a cancer where there are currently no effective treatments. With this cancer, the lining of blood cells is attacked by highly-malignant tumors that begin to spread throughout the body.
So Why Study Dogs?
Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Research Director for TGen and VARI believes that by studying similar types of cancer in dogs, research will get more answers.
“Many rare human cancers are very common in dogs. We’re excited about the idea that we may be able to identify areas that could be mutually beneficial – that could help the canine patient and can help the human patient with these various cancers,” Dr. Trent said.
How Can You Help?
The CHCC is soliciting the assistance of pure bred dog owners to help us collect blood and tumor samples for our research. If your dog is afflicted with cancer and you would like to donate samples, contact them at 616-234-5569 (phone) or send them an email (CHCC@vai.org).
