Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Gene changes linked to radiotherapy and survival in dogs with oral
By Mucignat, Greta et al.·Published in Genes·2024·Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A Whole-Transcriptomic Analysis of Canine Oral Melanoma: A Chance to Disclose the Radiotherapy Effect and Outcome-Associated Gene Signature.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of eight dogs with oral melanoma, a serious type of mouth cancer, received radiotherapy over four weeks to see how it affected their condition and survival. The treatment aimed to improve their immune response and overall health, which are crucial for fighting this aggressive cancer. While the study found that radiotherapy influenced various biological pathways, the main takeaway is that it can help manage the disease and potentially extend the dogs' lives. This research highlights the importance of radiotherapy in treating oral melanoma in dogs.
People also search for: dog oral melanoma treatment · canine cancer radiotherapy · dog mouth tumor prognosis
Abstract
Oral melanoma (OM) is the most common malignant oral tumour among dogs and shares similarities with human mucosal melanoma (HMM), validating the role of canine species as an immunocompetent model for cancer research. In both humans and dogs, the prognosis is poor and radiotherapy (RT) represents a cornerstone in the management of this tumour, either as an adjuvant or a palliative treatment. In this study, by means of RNA-seq, the effect of RT weekly fractionated in 9 Gray (Gy), up to a total dose of 36 Gy (4 weeks), was evaluated in eight dogs affected by OM. Furthermore, possible transcriptomic differences in blood and biopsies that might be associated with a longer overall survival (OS) were investigated. The immune response, glycosylation, cell adhesion, and cell cycle were the most affected pathways by RT, while tumour microenvironment (TME) composition and canonical and non-canonical WNT pathways appeared to be modulated in association with OS. Taking these results as a whole, this study improved our understanding of the local and systemic effect of RT, reinforcing the pivotal role of anti-tumour immunity in the control of canine oral melanoma (COM).
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39202425/