Cancer isn’t just a deadly disease affecting humans; it’s common in dogs as well. Twenty five percent of
dogs will develop a malignant tumor, and that number keeps rising. Cancer in
dogs and humans is so similar you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference
between a human tumor and a dog tumor under a microscope. Many studies are currently being done by
research teams at the University of Minnesota and all over the country as
well. They are beginning to use dogs to
test cancer treatments instead of rats and other animals. At first, I thought this didn’t seem right
but after reading more into the article it makes more sense. Rats and mice don’t develop cancer tumors
naturally, like dogs do, and they have to receive special treatment to weaken their
immune system in order to get the cancer.
Even after they receive the cancer, their body tries to fight it off and
most of the time responds well to treatment, giving false results. According to a study done in 2005, dogs and
humans have a lot of genes in common.
DNA within tumors has possibly even more commonalities. Dogs that are being tested are treated more
as patients than as lab rats; they live at home and every so often go in for a
checkup. 
Over time, as people began to breed dogs for specific characteristics, they unknowingly increased genetic triggers for cancer. They would often breed aunts and uncles with nieces and nephews. All this selective breeding greatly decreased the genetic diversity of the population. While there are still many species of dogs, they are all prone to developing cancer. Golden retrievers, in particular, have very high cancer death rates, as about half of all golden retrievers die from cancer. As these studies continue to be done, we will hopefully be able to find more treatments to cancer that will work in both dogs and their owners. And hopefully one day we may find a cure.
NOS Themes:
Role of Motivation and Curiosity- Scientists are looking for
new ways to treat cancer in dogs and humans
Collaborative- Many research teams across the nation are working
on similar studies
Based on Evidence- All these studies are continuing to
provide evidence of all the similarities of cancer between dogs and
humans. Already, some dogs have been
treated and their lives have been saved or prolonged further than expected.
This is an interesting article. I find it interesting how diseases can effect so many organisms, not just of one population. Here's a site that has some other diseases that are intercommunicable between species
ReplyDeletehttp://listverse.com/2013/04/01/10-fascinating-animal-to-human-diseases/
This is surprising. I wouldn't think that dogs and humans would be so similar in this way. Dogs and humans diagnosed with some blood and bone marrow cancers, including chronic myelogenous leukemia and Burkitt's lymphoma, experience almost identical genetic changes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228112011.htm
This is interesting because we just learned about the importance of diversification in species. People just want the results of a specific dog without realizing the consequences. This article also talks about how selective breeding is killing bees because of the same reduced diversification.
ReplyDeletehttp://farmfutures.com/story-federal-report-cites-several-factors-bee-decline-0-97798
I agree with you. When I first read the part where they are starting to use dogs as test subjects I was surprised, but I as I read your summary it made more sense to me. Hopefully if dogs and humans are so closely related genes, it will help lead to both human and dog cancer treatments. I read this article about how tumors in dogs can give information about people with breast cancer.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/Health/dog-tumors-give-clues-humans-breast-cancer/story?id=17638114
I read an article on this that said at Auburn University, they have actually developed a virus that helps to burst cancer cells in bone cancers. This treatment is being tried on dogs and may have applications in human treatments if it is successful, which I think is really exciting!
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.al.com/wire/2013/05/auburn_testing_bone_cancer_tre.html