2217: A Novel Mechanism to Regulate the Growth of Canine Hemangiosarcoma
Grant Status: Closed
Abstract
Hemangiosarcoma is an extremely aggressive cancer that is rapidly fatal in dogs. While the lifetime risk is alarmingly high for some breeds such as Golden Retrievers and German Shepherd Dogs, the disease does not discriminate, and it can strike any dog at any time. Despite considerable efforts by veterinarians and scientists to find effective treatments, the outcome for dogs with hemangiosarcoma has changed very little over the past few decades. Recent evidence provides essential clues into how these tumors grow and progress, generating new ideas for treatment approaches. Such new evidence suggests that hemangiosarcoma cells rely on the metabolism of lipids or fatty acids to supply energy for tissue invasion or continued tumor growth. To obtain these lipids, hemangiosarcomas may take over the metabolic machinery of neighboring cells, forcing them to produce nutrients for the tumor cells to help them proliferate and grow. This study will verify that tumor cells rely on lipid metabolism for growth, and determine if tumor cells alter the metabolism of fat cells to obtain cellular nutrients and accelerate tumor cell lipid metabolism. Identifying and exploiting a novel mechanism that may disrupt this process by inhibiting the interactions between tumor cells and cells in the tumor environment will speed clinical investigations, and ultimately lead to improved outcomes for dogs with this devastating disease.
Publication(s)
None at this time.
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