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by Videx on 06 December 2009 - 07:12
Tumour Predisposition in the German Shepherd Dog
University of Cambridge Veterinary School
International Research Programme
http://www.videxgsd.com/tumour_predisposition_in_GSD.htm
by Videx on 06 December 2009 - 15:12
Haemangiosarcoma is a form of cancer in which the tumour is caused by unregulated proliferation of cells related to those that normally develop to make up blood vessels.
The cancer may commonly be located in the spleen, the liver, or beneath the skin, and also the right atrium of the heart. The forms in the internal organs are highly aggressive and usually metastatic (they spread to additional sites) whilst dermal (skin) tumours are a little less so (about 30% show metastasis).
When dogs contract the visceral (internal) form of this cancer symptoms are often not visible until rather late in the course of the disease, by which time the outlook for the dog may be very poor. The cancer is often associated with “disseminated coagulopathy” in which vessel wall damage causes clotting to occur within blood vessels. Paradoxically, this uses up many of the blood clotting components rapidly, and as a consequence can also give rise to a loss of normal blood clotting, so that the dog develops bleeding from the nose or elsewhere. At the same time, splenic tumours are prone to rupture, which the leads to serious internal bleeding. If these splenic tumours are found early enough, a splenectomy (removal of the spleen) is usually performed. This protects from life-threatening sudden bleeds, but splenic haemangiosarcoma is still a rapidly spreading malignancy. 25% of dogs with splenic haemangiosarcoma also have a heart-based haemangiosarcoma.
This particular form of cancer is rather common in German Shepherd dogs when compared with most other dog breeds. In fact, calculations based on insurance records or on registers of cases treated suggest that it may be around 3 times more common in this breed than in the general dog population.
With collaborators in Holland, Sweden, the US and at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket England we are now researching the reasons for the more common incidence of haemangiosarcomas in this breed. We hypothesis that the origins of the predisposition may be genetic. The study of complex genetic defects in dogs at the molecular level has been made feasible by advances in genetic technology over the last two to three years, so that now we are receiving samples from affected animals with this particular type of cancer, in order to perform this analysis.
continued:........... http://www.videxgsd.com/tumour_predisposition_in_GSD.htm
The cancer may commonly be located in the spleen, the liver, or beneath the skin, and also the right atrium of the heart. The forms in the internal organs are highly aggressive and usually metastatic (they spread to additional sites) whilst dermal (skin) tumours are a little less so (about 30% show metastasis).
When dogs contract the visceral (internal) form of this cancer symptoms are often not visible until rather late in the course of the disease, by which time the outlook for the dog may be very poor. The cancer is often associated with “disseminated coagulopathy” in which vessel wall damage causes clotting to occur within blood vessels. Paradoxically, this uses up many of the blood clotting components rapidly, and as a consequence can also give rise to a loss of normal blood clotting, so that the dog develops bleeding from the nose or elsewhere. At the same time, splenic tumours are prone to rupture, which the leads to serious internal bleeding. If these splenic tumours are found early enough, a splenectomy (removal of the spleen) is usually performed. This protects from life-threatening sudden bleeds, but splenic haemangiosarcoma is still a rapidly spreading malignancy. 25% of dogs with splenic haemangiosarcoma also have a heart-based haemangiosarcoma.
This particular form of cancer is rather common in German Shepherd dogs when compared with most other dog breeds. In fact, calculations based on insurance records or on registers of cases treated suggest that it may be around 3 times more common in this breed than in the general dog population.
With collaborators in Holland, Sweden, the US and at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket England we are now researching the reasons for the more common incidence of haemangiosarcomas in this breed. We hypothesis that the origins of the predisposition may be genetic. The study of complex genetic defects in dogs at the molecular level has been made feasible by advances in genetic technology over the last two to three years, so that now we are receiving samples from affected animals with this particular type of cancer, in order to perform this analysis.
continued:........... http://www.videxgsd.com/tumour_predisposition_in_GSD.htm
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