Vice President, Oncology, Torigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc , Farmington, CT, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Kentucky , Lexington, KY, USA.
Expert Opin Drug Discov. 2020 Jun;15(6):731-738. doi: 10.1080/17460441.2020.1739644. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
Rodent models of cancer lack many features associated with the disease in humans. Because dogs closely share an environment with humans, as well as comparable pathophysiology of cancer, they represent a powerful model with which to study novel approaches to cancer treatment.
The authors summarize the weaknesses of rodent models of cancer and the ongoing need for better animal models with which to study potential therapeutic approaches. The homology of cancer in dogs and humans is described, along with examples specific to several common cancer types.
Laboratory mice and rats will continue to play a central role in cancer research; however, because of a variety of limitations, pet dogs with spontaneous cancer offer unique opportunities for research and should be included in the preclinical development of therapeutic compounds. Environmental homology between dogs and humans, along with biological and molecular similarities present circumstances that strengthen the translational rigor of studies conducted using canine patients. Progress will depend on a sufficient number of dogs to be diagnosed with cancer and available for use in studies; and essential to this will be the availability of enhanced resources for diagnosis of cancer in canine patients and reliable coordination between research scientists, veterinarians, and physicians.
癌症的啮齿动物模型缺乏许多与人类疾病相关的特征。由于狗与人类密切共享环境，以及癌症的病理生理学相当，因此它们代表了一种强大的模型，可以用来研究癌症治疗的新方法。
作者总结了癌症啮齿动物模型的弱点，以及对更好的动物模型的持续需求，以便研究潜在的治疗方法。描述了狗和人类癌症的同源性，以及几种常见癌症类型的具体例子。
实验小鼠和大鼠将继续在癌症研究中发挥核心作用；然而，由于各种限制，患有自发性癌症的宠物狗为研究提供了独特的机会，应该被纳入治疗化合物的临床前开发。狗和人类之间的环境同源性，以及存在的生物和分子相似性，加强了使用犬科患者进行研究的转化严谨性。进展将取决于足够数量的被诊断患有癌症的狗，并可用于研究；这方面至关重要的是，为犬科患者的癌症诊断提供增强的资源，并在研究科学家、兽医和医生之间进行可靠的协调。
