Toxicity Profile of eBAT, a Bispecific Ligand-Targeted Toxin Directed to EGFR and uPAR, in Mice and a Clinical Dog Model.

EGFR-targeted therapies are efficacious, but toxicity is common and can be severe. Urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)-targeted drugs are only emerging, so neither their efficacy nor toxicity is fully established. Recombinant eBAT was created by combining cytokines EGF and uPA on the same single-chain molecule with truncated toxin.

Evaluation of coated platelets, a subset of highly procoagulant platelets, in healthy dogs and dogs with neoplasia.

Objective: To determine if dogs with neoplasia produce more coated platelets, a subpopulation of activated platelets generated by dual stimulation with thrombin and convulxin, a glycoprotein VI agonist, than healthy control dogs.

Animals: Client-owned dogs diagnosed with lymphoma (n = 19) or solid tumors (14) and healthy control dogs (14).

Procedures: Platelets were stimulated ex vivo with thrombin and convulxin.

Risk Factors for Development of Canine and Human Osteosarcoma: A Comparative Review.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary tumor of bone. Osteosarcomas are rare in humans, but occur more commonly in dogs. A comparative approach to studying osteosarcoma has highlighted many clinical and biologic aspects of the disease that are similar between dogs and humans; however, important species-specific differences are becoming increasingly recognized.

Cytology and the cell block method in diagnostic characterization of canine lymphadenopathy and in the immunophenotyping of nodal lymphoma.

Minimally invasive techniques used to evaluate canine peripheral lymphadenopathy (PLN), including fine needle aspiration biopsy with cytological evaluation (FNAB-C) and flow cytometry (FC), have benefits and limitations. The cell block (CB) method is an alternate processing technique in which fine needle aspirate biopsy samples are concentrated, fixed, and embedded in paraffin for routine histological processing/staining. Utilizing three observers, we determined the diagnostic value of the CB in evaluating canine PLN across six categories (non-diagnostic, reactive, inflammatory/infectious, probable lymphoma and lymphoma, metastatic neoplasia) and correlated findings to immunophenotypic and clonal antigen receptor rearrangement results in canine nodal lymphoma.

Safe and Effective Sarcoma Therapy through Bispecific Targeting of EGFR and uPAR.

Sarcomas differ from carcinomas in their mesenchymal origin. Therapeutic advancements have come slowly, so alternative drugs and models are urgently needed. These studies report a new drug for sarcomas that simultaneously targets both tumor and tumor neovasculature.

A phase I clinical study to evaluate safety of orally administered, genetically engineered serovar for canine osteosarcoma.

We conducted a prospective phase I study to evaluate safety of an orally administered encoding IL-2 (SalpIL2) in combination with amputation and adjuvant doxorubicin for canine appendicular osteosarcoma. Efficacy was assessed as a secondary measure. The first dose of SalpIL2 was administered to 19 dogs on Day 0; amputation was done after 10 days with chemotherapy following 2 weeks later.

Parenchymal signal intensity in 3-T body MRI of dogs with hematopoietic neoplasia.

We performed a preliminary study involving 10 dogs to assess the applicability of body MRI for staging of canine diffuse hematopoietic neoplasia. T1-weighted (before and after intravenous gadolinium), T2-weighted, in-phase, out-of-phase, and short tau inversion recovery pulse sequences were used. By using digital region of interest (ROI) and visual comparison techniques, relative parenchymal organ (medial iliac lymph nodes, liver, spleen, kidney cortex, and kidney medulla) signal intensity was quantified as less than, equal to, or greater than that of skeletal muscle in 2 clinically normal young adult dogs and 10 dogs affected with either B-cell lymphoma (n = 7) or myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 3).

Evaluation of plasma islet amyloid polypeptide and serum glucose and insulin concentrations in nondiabetic cats classified by body condition score and in cats with naturally occurring diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To evaluate and compare circulating concentrations of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), insulin, and glucose in nondiabetic cats classified by body condition score (BCS) and in cats with naturally occurring diabetes mellitus.

Animals: 109 (82 nondiabetic, 21 nonketoacidotic diabetic, and 6 ketoacidotic diabetic) cats.

Procedures: Cats were examined and BCSs were assessed on a scale of 1 to 9.

Feline models of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Feline diabetes mellitus (FDM) closely resembles human type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in many respects including clinical, physiological, and pathological features of the disease. These features include age of onset of FDM in middle age, association with obesity, residual but declining insulin secretion, development of islet amyloid deposits, loss of approximately 50% of beta-cell mass, and development of complications in several organ systems including peripheral polyneuropathy and retinopathy. Many of the pathological aspects of the disease are also experimentally inducible, facilitating study of the pathogenesis of these lesions.