New Comparative Oncology Review - BBA Reviews on Cancer
New Comparative Oncology Research
Exciting new research has been published by the McCann group in BBA - Reviews on Cancer, in what appears to be the first comparative oncology study published by the high impact journal.
Amanda McCann, a cancer biologist in the UCD Conway Institute for Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, is spearheading the scientific aspects of comparative oncology research in UCD. Comparative oncology is defined as the discipline that integrates naturally occurring cancers seen in veterinary medicine, into more general studies of cancer biology and therapy in humans, including the study of cancer-pathogenesis and new cancer treatments. McCann’s group is particularly interested in finding biomarkers of cancer in blood. Exosomes, tiny particles released into the bloodstream by cancer cells, are one such marker, and the group aims to use them to develop a ‘liquid biopsy’ that will yield information to aid the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cancer.
In the group’s recent publication lead author Jane Howard (UCD Advance Core Funded) argues that companion animals, in particular female domestic cats, represent a comparative model for investigation of mammary carcinogenesis such as Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), that is much more relevant than the traditional mice or rodent models. Such cancers in cats may closely resemble the same illness in humans, displaying not only the same associated comorbidities but also similar genetic mutations. They have the added advantage of ‘compressed pathology’ whereby disease progress and response to treatment is more rapid than in humans.
The authors, who include Dr. Pamela Kelly, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as other researchers from UCD, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and the University of Edinburgh, have found strong evidence in the literature to support the complementarity of using exosomes to inform the profiling of TNBC and feline mammary adenocarcinoma. It is hoped that applying the collaborative approach of Comparative Oncology to this exciting emerging area of research will lead to positive outcomes for both humans and animals.
Other Comparative Medicine research in UCD