deeplyintothe

pathophysiologyofbloat,includinginvestigatingtheroleof
glucoselevelsandgastricemptying,thegastrointestinal
microbiomeandgastricdysrhythmiainthedevelopmentof
disease.Investigatorshaveproposedtousecuttingedge
techniques,andseveralwilltakeamulti-omicsapproach
withthehopeofhelpingbreedersmakeinformedbreeding
decisionsandmitigatetheriskofbloatintheirdogs.”

CanineHemangiosarcoma:Howmuchdowe

knowandwhenwillwefindacure

.Dogsdiagnosed

withcancergenerallyhaveaverypoorprognosis.Oftenthe
onlyoptionistokeepthedogcomfortablewhilethedisease
advances.JaimeModiano,VMD,PhD,ProfessorofVeterinary
ClinicalSciencesattheUniversityofMinnesota,isstudying
fouroftheworstcaninecancers:osteosarcoma,lymphoma,
hemangiosarcomaandmelanoma.Oneofhisgoalsistouse
genetictechniquestodistinguishbetweencaninecancers
thatarefastgrowingwithpoorprognosisandthosethatare
slowgrowingandcauselittlepain.Thatwaydogswith
indolentcancerscanreceiveminimaltreatment;theyare
sparedthesideeffectsofaggressivechemotherapy,andtheir
ownersaresparedthecost.

WithosteosarcomaandT-celllymphoma,Dr.Modiano

hashadremarkablesuccessinidentifyinggeneexpression
profilesthatcanpredictwhetheracancerneedsaggressive
treatmentornot.Unfortunately,hemangiosarcomaisa
differentstory.

Dr.Modianoreferstohemangiosarcomaas“thetumor

fromhell.”Hemangiosarcomatumorsgrowslowlyand
painlessly.Theaffecteddoglooksnormal,exceptfor
recurringepisodesoflethargyandpalenessduetoanemia.
Thediseaseissilentuntilatumorrupturesandthedog
bleedsinternally.Dependingonwherethetumoris,life
expectancycanbefromdaystomonths.

Thecauseofhemagiosarcomaisunknown.Certain

breedshaveahigherriskforthiscancer,mostnotablythe
GoldenRetriever.Dr.Modiano,incollaborationwithDrs.
MatthewBreenandKirstenLindblad-Toh,hasidentified
heritabletraitsthatleadtoincreasedriskforhemangiosar-
comainGoldens.Theyaredesigningatestthatcanpredict
riskandbeusedaspartofabreedingstrategy.

MatthewBreen,PhD,ProfessorofGenomicsattheNorth

CarolinaStateUniversityCollegeofVeterinaryMedicine,
continuedthediscussionofhemangiosarcoma.Heis
mappingthechromosomeaberrationsfoundindogswith
cancers.Whenthechromosomesfromcancercellsare
examined,theyarevisiblydifferentfromnormalchromo-
somes.Somegenesaremissing,someareduplicatedand
othersaremovedtoanewlocation.Hefoundthatdogs
withleukemiahave50to100differentgeneticalterations,
whereasdogswithosteosarcomashave400to500changes.
Whendogswithhemangiosarcomawereanalyzed,hefound
ashockingnumberofgeneticchanges,morethan6,000!In-
terestingly,analysisofspecificbreedsshowedthateach
breedhasasubsetofthose6,000geneticchanges,andthere
isacommonsignatureof396genesthatarealteredinevery
breed.TheBreenlabiscurrentlyseekingsamplesfromany
breedthathas15to20dogsaffectedbyhemangiosarcoma.

Regenerativemedicinefororthopedicconditions

indogs.

Dogsinjureligamentsandtendonswhileworking

inthemilitary,runningagilitycourses,herdingsheepand
roughhousingatdoggiedaycare.Liketheirowners,many
dogsdeveloposteoarthritisafteryearsofactivity.The
traditionalsurgicalrepair,medicationsandrehabilitation
therapyhavenotalwaysrestoredtheinjureddogtoits
pre-injurystate.ShermanCanapp,DVM,runstheVeterinary
OrthopedicSportsMedicineGroupnearAnnapolis,Md.,
wherehetreatsinjureddogsusingtraditionalapproaches
combinedwithstemcellsorplatelet-richplasmatherapy.
Theresultsareremarkable.

Stemcellsareundifferentiatedcellsthatareabletodivide

anddevelopintomanydifferentspecializedcells.They
repairandreplenishadulttissues.Stemcellsusedinhuman
medicineareharvestedfrombonemarrow,bloodand
adiposetissue,alsoknownasfat.Dr.Canappisolatesstem
cellsfromthecaninepatient’sadiposebecauseitisreadily
availableandthefat-derivedcellshavetheabilitytodevelop
intocartilage,muscle,bone,nervecells,heartcells,liveror
morefat.Anothersourceofcellstostimulatehealingis
platelet-richplasmaisolatedfromthecaninepatient’sblood.
Plateletsareanaturalsourceofbioactiveproteinsand
growthfactorsthatstimulatecollagenformationand

Conference

continuedfrompage358

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December2013

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