AKC Canine Health Foundation Discoveries

By Sharon Albright, DVM, CCRT
Manager of Communications & Veterinary Outreach, AKC Canine Health Foundation

New treatments are needed for canine bone cancer. Current treatment options include surgical removal of the tumor and chemotherapy to treat metastatic disease (cancer spread to distant parts of the body). Unfortunately, surgery can have complications, not all dogs are good candidates for surgery due to other health problems, and many affected dogs develop metastatic disease and only survive for one year or less after diagnosis.

Since 1995, the AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) and its donors have invested more than $3 million in 42 studies to improve outcomes for dogs with bone cancer. Since canine bone cancer is similar to human adolescent bone cancer, what we learn about dogs could also help children affected by this devastating disease. There is exciting progress toward that goal.

A recent study conducted by 2016 CHF Clinician-Scientist Fellow Dr. Shirley Chu found that genetic mutations in canine bone cancer cells were similar even in different locations within a patient. However, the mutations were unique to each individual dog studied. Additional research could explore if these mutation differences indicate subtypes of bone cancer that should be studied to offer more targeted and effective treatments and a more accurate prognosis for affected dogs.

Another study showed that a unique form of bone cancer that strikes Irish Wolfhounds at a young age (less than 5 years old) is highly heritable with 65% of disease development attributed to genetic factors. Future studies will explore the specific genetic mutations that contribute to this form of cancer.

Investigators at Tufts University described the DNA of canine bone cancer cell cultures, confirming that these cultured cells adequately represent natural disease. This means that scientists can study these cell cultures to see which chemical pathways are disrupted by cancerous mutations and could be targeted by new treatments.

Finally, an exciting line of study at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is concentrating on a treatment protocol for canine bone cancer using the technology known as histotripsy. This focused ultrasound treatment mechanically disintegrates tumor tissue without affecting surrounding muscle or nerve cells. The treatment was first tested on bone cancer tissue samples removed from donor dogs. After this successful study, histotripsy was used to treat five client-owned dogs with suspected bone cancer. These clinical trial participants received standard limb amputation surgery 1-2 days after the histotripsy treatment. They showed no significant adverse effects from the treatment and microscopic examination showed that histotripsy effectively disintegrated the tumor tissue while sparing surrounding normal tissues.

Exploration of histotripsy as a new treatment for bone cancer continues, as CHF funding is helping scientists determine the best way to monitor response to treatment and how it impacts the immune system. Other newly awarded grants
will examine interactions between bone cancer and immune system cells – exploring how immune cells gain access to important regions within bone tumors and if and how they are manipulated to help the tumor grow. Study also continues on the genetic mutations found in bone cancer cells and how we can use them to develop better tests and treatments. And the exciting prospect of a blood test for early detection of canine bone cancer is under development at the University of Minnesota.

Canine bone cancer is a devastating diagnosis for dogs and their families. But thanks to the dedication of CHF’s donors and funded investigators, there is hope. Hope for better diagnostic tests. Hope for more successful and less invasive treatment options. And hope for longer, healthier lives for the dogs we love. Learn more about CHF-funded bone cancer research, including how you can help, at akcchf.org/osteosarcomaRPA.