Randomised trial evaluating chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and a novel monoclonal antibody for canine T-cell lymphoma: A multicentre US study.

Background: Canine peripheral nodal T-cell lymphoma is considered chemotherapy resistant and carries a relatively poor prognosis. Prospective evaluations reporting the impact of chemotherapy on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival time for dogs with T-cell lymphoma are lacking. This study examined the impact of L-CHOP (L-asparaginase, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone) chemotherapy or L-CHOP in combination with AT-005, a US Department of Agriculture-licensed caninised monoclonal antibody, on PFS and response rates in dogs with clinical intermediate- and high-grade peripheral nodal T-cell lymphoma.

Use of a canine melanoma vaccine in the management of malignant melanoma in an African penguin (Spheniscus demersus).

Case Description: A 25-year-old 4.4-kg male aquarium-hatched African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) was evaluated because of a raised 1.5 × 0.

Risk and characteristics of gastric carcinoma in the chow chow dog.

Gastric carcinoma is not commonly reported in dogs. There is an increased risk, however, in certain breeds such as the Belgian Tervuren. Review of the Veterinary Medical Database (VMDB) established an increase in risk for gastric carcinoma in the chow chow breed.

Analyses of publicly available genomics resources define FGF-2-expressing bladder carcinomas as EMT-prone, proliferative tumors with low mutation rates and high expression of CTLA-4, PD-1 and PD-L1.

FGF-2 is overexpressed in a subset of invasive bladder carcinomas and its overexpression correlates with poor prognosis. Analyses of publicly available databases addressing the molecular mechanisms that may be responsible for the poor prognosis of these tumors, revealed that FGF-2 expression correlates positively with the expression of EMT-promoting transcription factors and with changes in gene expression that are characteristic of EMT. The same analyses also revealed that FGF-2 correlates negatively with the expression, mutation and copy number variations of FGFR-3, all of which are associated with non-invasive bladder carcinomas.

Diagnostic performance of the urinary canine calgranulins in dogs with lower urinary or urogenital tract carcinoma.

Background: Onset of canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) and prostatic carcinoma (PCA) is usually insidious with dogs presenting at an advanced stage of the disease. A biomarker that can facilitate early detection of TCC/PCA and improve patient survival would be useful. S100A8/A9 (calgranulin A/B or calprotectin) and S100A12 (calgranulin C) are expressed by cells of the innate immune system and are associated with several inflammatory disorders.

Homologous Mutation to Human BRAF V600E Is Common in Naturally Occurring Canine Bladder Cancer--Evidence for a Relevant Model System and Urine-Based Diagnostic Test.

Unlabelled: Targeted cancer therapies offer great clinical promise, but treatment resistance is common, and basic research aimed at overcoming this challenge is limited by reduced genomic and biologic complexity in artificially induced rodent tumors compared with their human counterparts. Animal models that more faithfully recapitulate genotype-specific human pathology could improve the predictive value of these investigations. Here, a newly identified animal model for oncogenic BRAF-driven cancers is described.

Evaluation of hypoxia in a feline model of head and neck cancer using ⁶⁴Cu-ATSM positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

Background: Human and feline head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) share histology, certain molecular features, as well as locally aggressive and highly recurrent clinical behavior. In human HNSCC, the presence of significant hypoxia within these tumors is considered an important factor in the development of a more aggressive phenotype and poor response to therapy. We hypothesized that feline head and neck tumors, particularly HNSCC, would exhibit hypoxia and that ⁶⁴Cu-diacetyl-bis(N4-methylthiosemicarbazone) (Cu-ATSM) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) would permit detection of intratumoral hypoxia.

Conservation of avian germplasm by xenogeneic transplantation of spermatogonia from sexually mature donors.

Approximately 12.5% of all 9,920 extant bird species in the world are threatened with extinction, and yet conservation efforts through natural breeding of captive species continue to encounter difficulties. However, sperm cryopreservation and artificial insemination offer potential benefits over natural breeding, but their applicability is still limited in nondomestic species.

Use of propofol for induction of anesthesia in dogs undergoing definitive radiation therapy: 31 cases (2006-2009).

Objective: To evaluate changes in serial hemograms and serum biochemical profiles in tumor-bearing dogs undergoing daily anesthesia with propofol as an induction agent for radiation therapy.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 31 dogs with cutaneous or subcutaneous malignancies over the trunk or limbs.

Use of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy for treatment of a heart base chemodectoma in a dog.

Case Description: A 9-year-old spayed female mixed-breed dog was evaluated because of a progressively worsening, nonproductive cough and gagging of 1 year's duration.

Clinical Findings: Physical examination results were unremarkable. A cranial mediastinal mass was identified at the heart base with 3-view thoracic radiography.

Initial evaluation of safety of wide-field irradiation in the treatment of hematopoietic neoplasia in the cat.

Localized radiation therapy is well tolerated in cats with confined tumors; however, the use of wide-field radiation therapy to treat disseminated neoplasia has not been evaluated systematically in this species. Wide-field external beam radiation therapy, which we define as irradiation of cranial or caudal halves of the body either individually or sequentially, was undertaken as an experimental option to treat cats with either chemotherapy-refractory or naive hematopoietic neoplasia considered to have a poor prognosis. Fifteen cats with hematopoietic malignancies received wide-field external beam radiation therapy between 2003 and 2006.

Microsatellite instability in canine mammary gland tumors.

Background: Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer and may be required for the accumulation of cancer-causing mutations within cells. One form of genomic instability occurs in tandem nucleotide repeats and is known as microsatellite instability (MSI).

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that MSI can be observed in canine mammary gland tumors (MGT) and represents a potential carcinogenic mechanism in dogs.

Intracranial glioblastoma models in preclinical neuro-oncology: neuropathological characterization and tumor progression.

Although rodent glioblastoma (GBM) models have been used for over 30 years, the extent to which they recapitulate the characteristics encountered in human GBMs remains controversial. We studied the histopathological features of dog GBM and human xenograft GBM models in immune-deficient mice (U251 and U87 GBM in nude Balb/c), and syngeneic GBMs in immune-competent rodents (GL26 cells in C57BL/6 mice, CNS-1 cells in Lewis rats). All GBMs studied exhibited neovascularization, pleomorphism, vimentin immunoreactivity, and infiltration of T-cells and macrophages.

Urinary biomarkers to assess exposure of cats to environmental tobacco smoke.

Objective: To evaluate the use of urinary biomarkers to assess exposure of cats to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).

Animals: 61 healthy client-owned cats (19 from households in which smoking was reported and 42 from households in which there was no smoking).

Procedures: Urine samples were obtained from each cat and assayed for total nicotine (nicotine plus nicotine glucuronide) and total cotinine (cotinine plus cotinine glucuronide) content by use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Adenoviral-mediated gene transfer into the canine brain in vivo.

Objective: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a devastating brain tumor for which there is no cure. Adenoviral-mediated transfer of conditional cytotoxic (herpes simplex virus [HSV] 1-derived thymidine kinase [TK]) and immunostimulatory (Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand [Flt3L]) transgenes elicited immune-mediated long-term survival in a syngeneic intracranial GBM model in rodents. However, the lack of a large GBM animal model makes it difficult to predict the outcome of therapies in humans.

Comparison of cytogenetics and polymerase chain reaction based detection of the amelogenin gene polymorphism for the diagnosis of freemartinism in cattle.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay which detects a sex-based polymorphism in the bovine amelogenin locus was modified and compared to conventional cytogenetic analysis for diagnosis of freemartinism (XX/XY chimerism) in cattle. The PCR assay is more sensitive than cytogenetic analysis for detection of XY cells, with the limit of detection of the assay falling between 0.2% and 1% XY cells.

Evaluation of factors associated with survival in dogs with untreated nasal carcinomas: 139 cases (1993-2003).

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with survival in dogs with nasal carcinomas that did not receive treatment or received only palliative treatment.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 139 dogs with histologically confirmed nasal carcinomas.

Establishment of an immortalized cell line and transplantable xenograft from a bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma of a cat.

Objective: To establish an immortalized cell line and transplantable xenograft of feline bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma (BAC).

Sample Population: Pleural effusion from a 12-year-old Persian male cat with BAC.

Procedure: Tumor cells from the pleural effusion were grown in monolayer cell culture and injected into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice to establish an immortalized cell line as well as a transplantable xenograft.

Comparative oncological studies of feline bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma, its derived cell line and xenograft.

Although certain neoplasms are unique to man, others occur across species. One such neoplasm is bronchioloalveolar lung carcinoma (BAC), a neoplasm of the Type II pneumocyte that affects humans, sheep, and small animals (dogs and cats). Human BAC occurs largely in nonsmokers.

Late complications of pelvic irradiation in 16 dogs.

When external beam radiation therapy is administered to the pelvis, normal tissues irradiated may include the colon, small intestine, urethra, bladder, bone, and spinal cord. The objectives of this retrospective study were to determine the incidence and severity of late radiation effects following pelvic irradiation in dogs and to identify factors that increase the risk of these effects. Medical records of all dogs treated with curative intent external beam radiation therapy to the pelvic region between 1993 and 1999 were reviewed.