01903-A: Defining the Anti-Tumor Activity of Monocytes in Osteosarcoma

Abstract

Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in dogs. Despite aggressive therapy, surgical tumor removal and chemotherapy, the cancer often spreads (metastasizes) and dogs usually die of metastatic disease within an average of 12 months after diagnosis. Although survival times have not greatly improved over the last 20 years, clinicians have noted that survival times double in osteosarcoma patients who develop infections after surgical removal of the primary tumor. One hypothesis is that infection activates white blood cells such as monocytes to promote anti-tumor activity. In order to better understood and ultimately exploit the anti-tumor capabilities of monocytes, Dr. Lascelles proposes to characterize phenotypic (surface receptor expression) and functional differences of monocytes in normal dogs and osteosarcoma dogs either with or without a concurrent infection. The goal is to define changes that occur in monocytes of an infected osteosarcoma dog and enhance our understanding of the monocyte's ability to suppress tumor activity. The long-term goal is to harness the anti-tumor potential of monocytes to develop new therapies using these cells to increase survival in dogs with osteosarcoma.

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