Immunohistochemical and transcriptomic characterization of T and myeloid cell infiltrates in canine malignant melanoma.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy can provide significant clinical benefit in patients with certain cancer types including melanoma; however, objective responses are only observed for a subset of patients. Mucosal melanoma is a rare melanoma subtype associated with a poor prognosis and, compared with cutaneous melanoma, is significantly less responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Spontaneous canine tumours have emerged as valuable models to inform human cancer studies.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the cellular and molecular heterogeneity of treatment-naïve primary osteosarcoma in dogs.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a heterogeneous, aggressive malignancy of the bone that disproportionally affects children and adolescents. Therapeutic interventions for OS are limited, which is in part due to the complex tumor microenvironment (TME). As such, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to describe the cellular and molecular composition of the TME in 6 treatment-naïve dogs with spontaneously occurring primary OS.

Characterizing the molecular and immune landscape of canine bladder cancer.

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), also known as urothelial carcinoma, is the most common bladder cancer in humans and dogs. Approximately one-quarter of human TCCs are muscle-invasive and associated with a high risk of death from metastasis. Canine TCC (cTCC) tumours are typically high-grade and muscle-invasive.

Role of Periostin Expression in Canine Osteosarcoma Biology and Clinical Outcome.

Periostin is a matricellular protein important in regulating bone, tooth, and cardiac development. In pathologic conditions, periostin drives allergic and fibrotic inflammatory diseases and is also overexpressed in certain cancers. Periostin signaling in tumors has been shown to promote angiogenesis, metastasis, and cancer stem cell survival in rodent models, and its overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in human glioblastoma.

Identifying Candidate Druggable Targets in Canine Cancer Cell Lines Using Whole-Exome Sequencing.

Cancer cell culture has been a backbone in cancer research, in which analysis of human cell line mutational profiles often correlates with oncogene addiction and drug sensitivity. We have conducted whole-exome sequence analyses on 33 canine cancer cell lines from 10 cancer types to identify somatic variants that contribute to pathogenesis and therapeutic sensitivity. A total of 66,344 somatic variants were identified.

Identifying the ErbB/MAPK Signaling Cascade as a Therapeutic Target in Canine Bladder Cancer.

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder comprises 2% of diagnosed canine cancers. TCC tumors are generally inoperable and unresponsive to traditional chemotherapy, indicating a need for more effective therapies. BRAF, a kinase in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, is mutated in 70% of canine TCCs.