Celebrating the Breakthroughs Shaping the Future of Canine Health. Meet the 2025 Canine Health Discovery Award Finalists.

01557: Narrowing the Search for the Genetic Basis of Histiocytic Malignancies

In a previous study (CHF-760) Dr. Breen demonstrated that canine histiocytic malignancies (HMs) present with a high degree of DNA copy number alterations. His research group identified several aberrant regions of the genome that are highly recurrent between cases, suggesting that such regions are associated causally with the malignant process. Understanding the biology of genes […]

02405-A: Transcriptome Based Diagnostics in Canine Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Sarcomas are malignant cancers that can arise in any part of the body; however, in the dog, a subset referred to as soft tissue sarcomas account for 10-15% of all skin and subcutaneous cancers. Traditionally biopsy and subsequent histology have been the primary means of diagnosing these cancers. The histology is assigned to one of […]

1093B-T: Positional Cloning of the Gene(s) for Gastric Cancer in the Chow Chow

Our work has documented an increased risk of gastric carcinoma (stomach cancer) in the Chow Chow as well as a number of other breeds including Akita, Belgian Sheepdog, Tervuren and Malinois, Bouvier, Eurasier, Irish Setter, Keeshond, Norwegian Elkhound, and the Scottish Terrier. In 2002, we initiated a database and sample repository for the study of […]

02920: Continued Investigation into Tumor-permissive Collagen Signatures in Canine Mammary Gland Tumors: Development of Prognostic Markers and Targeted Therapies for Improved Outcomes

Canine mammary gland tumors (CMT) are the most common malignancies in intact female dogs with the resulting morbidity and premature death having a profound impact on a large number of dogs, their owners and the veterinarians that treat them. While genetic alterations within tumor cells can promote their uncontrolled growth and ability to spread to […]

01708-A: Validation of a general method for enrichment of canine cancer stem cells

Osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, and glioblastoma multiforme are three types of incurable cancers that are responsible for reduced quality of life and significant mortality in dogs. The processes that control the clinical behavior of these tumors is not well understood, but recent research suggests that a specialized group of cells called “cancer stem cells” (or CSCs) might […]

01929-A: Arginine Dependence: Identification of Cancer’s Achilles Heel

Arginine is a nonessential amino acid. This means that some normal cells in the body can make their own arginine and, once they make it, put it into the circulation for others cells of the body to use for such purposes as making proteins. Interestingly, it has been shown that many tumor cells cannot make […]