Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tumor immune cells predict response to melanoma treatment in dogs
By Kamo, Shintaro et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative oncology·2026·School of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Prognostic Significance of Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Canine Oral Malignant Melanoma Treated With Anti-Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) Antibody Therapy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at dogs with oral malignant melanoma (a type of cancer) to see how certain immune cells in the tumor might predict how well they respond to a new treatment using an antibody therapy. Researchers found that dogs with higher levels of specific immune cells (CD3 and Granzyme B) in their tumors tended to live longer and have better outcomes after treatment. This suggests that the presence of these immune cells could help veterinarians determine which dogs might benefit most from this therapy. Overall, the findings indicate that understanding the immune response in these tumors could improve treatment strategies for affected dogs.
People also search for: dog oral melanoma treatment · canine cancer immune therapy · prognosis for dog melanoma
Abstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for canine oral malignant melanoma (OMM). However, only a subset of cases have shown clinical responses. Additionally, predictive biomarkers for the efficacy of ICIs in veterinary medicine are yet to be established. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are predictive biomarkers for ICI therapy in humans. In this study, we aimed to investigate the predictive utility of TILs for canine OMM treated with ICI therapy. Immunohistochemistry was performed on pre-treatment pathological tissues to detect cells positive for CD3 (pan-T cell marker), Granzyme B (cytotoxic T lymphocyte or natural killer cell marker) and Foxp3 (regulatory T cell marker). Further, we analysed the infiltration patterns of these cells and their prognostic utility for anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody therapy. There were variances in the infiltration levels of each TIL subset; further, we observed several TIL infiltration patterns in canine OMM. Survival analysis revealed that high infiltration of CD3and Granzyme Bcells was significantly associated with prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival. Furthermore, the immune cell composition ratio, which reflected the balance between cytotoxic and regulatory cells, was significantly associated with survival time. These findings suggest that canine OMM exhibits immunological phenotypes analogous to those observed in human cancers. Taken together, the TIL profile holds significant potential as a prognostic biomarker for canine OMM treated with anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41681116/