Dog Update - Summer 2022 - 5

Dog Update
DOG OWNERS CAN TAKE PART IN TWO CANCER
STUDIES TO IDENTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Two studies underway at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison aim to identify environmental
chemicals that may contribute to lymphoma
and bladder cancer in dogs. Lead investigator
Dr. Lauren A. Trepanier encourages owners to
participate in the research that is funded by the AKC Canine Health Foundation.
Exposure to Environmental Chemicals in Boxers with Lymphoma: This
two-year study that goes through 2023 is seeking to enroll Boxers diagnosed
with lymphoma via veterinary cytology or biopsy testing. Dogs must be
enrolled in the study before chemotherapy treatment begins, though prior
treatment with prednisone is allowed. The researchers also are enrolling healthy,
unaffected Boxers as controls.
The goal is to determine if Boxers, like people with lymphoma, are impacted
by chemicals in the environment and to find ways to prevent lymphoma in dogs.
Testing supplies will be provided for submitting urine samples along with
drinking water and air samples. Participants also will be asked to complete a
questionnaire about their dogs' household environment.
Bladder Carcinogen Exposures in Pet Dogs: This three-year study, which
goes through 2023, is enrolling dogs diagnosed with bladder cancer confirmed
by tumor biopsy or by BRAF genetic testing along with bladder ultrasound,
as well as unaffected matched control dogs. Owners can participate too.
This study aims to better understand what causes bladder cancer in dogs and
whether owners share exposure to certain environmental chemicals. Finding
better ways to prevent bladder cancer in dogs and chemical exposures in people
is the goal. Participants will receive testing supplies to submit urine samples
and a questionnaire about their dog's household environment. Optional submissions
include owners' urine samples and samples of household dust, drinking
water and environmental air.
For more information about these studies, please contact Dr. Trepanier at lauren.
trepanier@wisc.edu.
power plants, industrial furnaces
and boilers, and motor vehicles.
* 1,3-butadiene is a colorless gas with
a gasoline odor that is used to make
synthetic rubber products such as tires,
resins and plastics. Exposure from
polluted air and water near chemical,
plastic or rubber facilities, auto
exhaust, and tobacco smoke have
been linked to leukemia in people.
* Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde,
a colorless, strong-smelling industrial
chemical used for making plywood
and particleboard, has been found
to cause various cancers in people.
Exposure comes from inhaling formaldehyde
in the air or released from
pressed-wood products, tobacco
smoke, and auto tailgate emissions.
" These data support our hypothesis
that tap-water contaminants and
airborne environmental pollutants
may contribute to the risk of bladder
carcinoma and lymphoma in dogs, "
says Dr. Trepanier. " If we find that
this reflects a direct cause-and-effect
relationship, then it is possible that
tap-water carbon filtration units and
more effective air pollution controls
could decease the overall incidence of
these cancers in dogs and potentially
in people. "
LYMPHOMA RISKS IN BOXERS
The fact that Boxers along with about
a dozen other breeds are more susceptible
to lymphoma suggests that
the cancer risk is inherited - at least in
part - though major inherited factors
have not yet been identified. This suggests
an interaction between genes
and the environment.
Dr. Trepanier, a Boxer owner herself,
wanted to investigate the relationship
5
" The work being done by
Dr. Trepanier and her group
is tremendously exciting. We
are beginning to develop a
picture of ways that owners
can make choices for their
dogs that may help to prevent
some cancers. "
Darin Collins, DVM, CEO of the AKC
Canine Health Foundation

https://www.akcchf.org/research/participate-in-research/Exposure-to-environmental-chemicals-in-boxer-dogs-with-lymphoma.html https://www.akcchf.org/research/participate-in-research/Environmental-risk-for-bladder-cancer-in-dogs.html https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/butadiene https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet

Dog Update - Summer 2022

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