Comparative Genetics of Canine and Human Cancers.

Domestic dogs develop cancer at rates similar to, or greater than, humans and suffer from cancer types that also reflect several similar common types of human disease. Canine cancers have, as a consequence, been investigated as a model of human cancer that is particularly attractive because it is an intermediate sized animal model with an intact immune system that develops spontaneous disease. This discipline has had extraordinary consequences for canine medicine as well, promoting the exploration of the genetics of canine cancers and the development of new therapies designed to be translated to humans but that also benefit the dogs themselves. We review the gene defects found in the most well-studied canine cancers and the new therapeutic approaches such investigations have promoted.