GOLDENS WITH LYMPHOMA AND OSTEOSARCOMA ARE NEEDED TO STUDY THE GENETIC BASIS OF LYMPHOMA AND OSTEOSARCOMA


Most Golden Retriever fanciers know Goldens that have died of lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes, lymphosarcoma) and osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Since our Goldens are predisposed to these cancers, many of us have lost some of our own beloved Goldens to these diseases. The Canine Health Foundation has funded a study which may help determine the genetic basis of these cancers. We have hopes that this study and subsequent studies may some day lead to genetic tests to identify Goldens predisposed to developing lymphoma and bone cancer and may identify those lymphomas and bone cancers most likely to respond to treatment. If your Golden Retriever is newly diagnosed with lymphoma or osteosarcoma (has not yet started chemotherapy, including steroids), you and your Golden may now be able to contribute to understanding what causes these cancers.

The researchers:

Dr. Jaime F. Modiano, AMC Cancer Research Center

Dr. Mathew Breen, North Carolina State University

Eligible participants:

Golden Retrievers, Rottweilers, Scottish Deerhounds and Mastiffs ages 4 months to 12 years with lymphoma (grades II-IV and without bone marrow involvement) or osteosarcoma (grades I-II without detectable metastases). These patients should be healthy enough to tolerate x-rays, surgical biopsy and blood draws. After sample submission, lymphoma patients should be treated with standard multi-agent chemotherapy for lymphoma (Vincristine/Adriamycin/Cytoxan/Pred with or without L-asparaginase) and osteosarcoma patients should be treated by surgery (limb amputation or limb-sparing surgery) and systemic chemotherapy.

What is needed:

  1. A sterile sample of the tumor taken during surgery for biopsy should be collected into the transport medium supplied by Dr. Modiano’s laboratory.
  1. Blood samples (10-15 mls) from the patient and at least two first-degree relatives collected in EDTA (purple top) tubes and expressed to Dr. Modiano’s laboratory.

Additional information:

A small amount of money (~$250 per eligible lymphoma or bone cancer patient) may be paid by the study to the owners of the affected dogs to help defray costs for the obtaining tumor tissue. Owners of dogs in the study should read the full informed consent regarding study participation.

Informed consent for study participation:

The document is available online at:

http://www.amc.org/pdfs/OwnerConsentForm.pdf

For additional information:

http://bozman.net/amc/participants.pdf

http://www.rottweilerhealth.org/lymphoma_osteo_cancerstudy.html

http://mastiff.org/exhibit-hall/health/olcan2.mv

Contact information:

Contact Dr. Modiano at 303-239-3408 or at modianoj@amc.org BEFORE any treatment is started

 

We believe we will someday prevent this disease in many of our Goldens – your help is enormously appreciated!

See Another Cancer Study

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