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Analysis by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker

Dogs and humans share not only strong bonds together — they also have similarities when it comes to common health problems.

Even serious conditions like brain tumors affect both dogs and humans, and it’s likely that treating such tumors in canines will provide valuable insights that may one day help to drive cures for brain tumors in humans. Researchers looked specifically into diffuse gliomas, which are the most common malignant brain tumors.1

Gliomas, which are an aggressive form of brain tumor that often affects brachycephalic breeds like boxers and bulldogs, occur in dogs at rates similar to those in humans, and dogs make excellent research subjects for a number of reasons, including the fact that their cancer develops naturally, unlike in rodent studies in which cancer must be artificially induced.

Further, in the featured study, published in the journal Cancer Cell, the researchers were particularly interested in characterizing the genome of canine glioma because, while dogs are diagnosed in the adult stage of life, the age distribution is comparable with pediatric disease in humans.

“This seeming conundrum in fact creates an opportunity to compare somatic drivers and their relative timing in canine glioma with those in human glioma,” they noted.2

Similarities Revealed Among Human and Canine Brain Tumors

The researchers examined samples of canine gliomas from 83 dogs, performing whole-genome sequencing, and compared the results to brain tumor data from both adult and child patients. Surprising similarities were found, including in genes and pathways, the DNA repair system that’s altered in human brain tumors, and changes in number of chromosomes.3

Brain tumors in dogs appeared to be particularly similar to brain tumors in human children, with the researchers explaining, “Canine gliomas showed high similarity with human pediatric gliomas per robust aneuploidy, mutational rates, relative timing of mutations, and DNA-methylation patterns.”4

Similarities were also seen in the way dogs’ immune systems responded to brain tumors, which suggests immunotherapy treatments could also be used in dogs and provide new insights into how they work in people.

“As spontaneous tumors arising in immune-competent hosts, canine gliomas represent an excellent resource through which to improve our understanding of how the immune system responds to and affects brain tumor development,” according to the study.5

Canine gliomas were also similar to human gliomas in terms of mutation rate, DNA methylation and microenvironment, which suggests finding a cure for such tumors in dogs could potentially work for human tumors, too.

The researchers added, “Canine gliomas resemble human gliomas at (epi-)genetic levels and are more reminiscent of pediatric than adult disease, thus rationalizing sporadic canine glioma as a preclinical model tailored to measuring treatment efficacies in patients with canine or human glioma.”6

Comparative Oncology Programs Seek to Help Pets and Humans

The Cancer Cell study is among the latest to show that dogs add great value to the study of cancer care and prevention. Similarly, in a 2016 study, by analyzing the genome of the closely related dog breeds at increased risk of gliomas, researchers were able to identify three genes associated with glioma that are present in both dogs and people.7

At the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Cancer Research, a comparative oncology program exists that is working to generate new information about cancer, including biological concepts and novel therapies, by comparing cancers in dogs and humans.8

About 6 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in cats and dogs in the U.S. annually. Cancers occur spontaneously in these animals, as they do in humans, and research into a number of cancer types, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate carcinoma, lung carcinoma, head and neck carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and osteosarcoma, is possible. As for why cancers in pets serve as reliable models for human cancer, NCI noted:

  • Pets share many of the same environmental risk factors with their human owners, which allows them to serve as sentinels of disease
  • The cancers share tumor biology and behavior with human cancers and may even have identical tumor histology and response rates to chemotherapy
  • The prevalence of the cancers is sufficient to allow for clinical trials and biological studies
  • The lack of “gold standard” treatments for cancer in cats and dogs allows for early and humane testing of novel therapies

For example, NCI gave out $11.5 million in grants in 2017 to six veterinary schools to study immunotherapy treatments in four types of cancer in dogs.9 On a broader level, comparative oncologists are studying naturally occurring cancers in pets to:10

  • Uncover environmental risks for human cancer
  • Examine genetic determinants for cancer predispositions
  • Improve understanding of cancer biology
  • Evaluate novel therapeutic strategies

Nutritional Intervention Is Also Translational

One of the most effective nutritional approaches for supporting glioma patients, both human and canine, is the ketogenic diet. Nutritional ketosis is a profound metabolic strategy that has proven to be incredibly helpful for mammals dealing with brain tumors.

Glioma cells consume tremendous amount of glucose (sugar) and don’t compensate well for glucose restriction, which is why this nutritional approach is being researched.11

Ketopet Sanctuary also used this as a powerful metabolic weapon to starve canine brain tumors of their favored energy source: sugar. The effects were so profound it inspired us to film the Dog Cancer Series documentary.

This novel therapy can be combined with other therapies and cancer treatments to have a synergistic effect.12 And when you think of it, cancer patients have to eat; why not institute a diet that can powerfully address the cancer’s primary fuel source?

Tips for Cancer Prevention in Pets

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), approximately 1 in 4 dogs will develop neoplasia at some point in their lives, and almost half of dogs over the age of 10 will develop cancer.13 With cancer rates on the rise in dogs, it’s important to take steps toward prevention. This starts, as it does in humans, with a healthy diet.

To help your dog avoid cancer, it’s important to feed an anti-inflammatory, low glycemic diet of whole foods, along with beneficial add-ins and supplements. Also important is reducing exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides (including continual application flea and tick preventives), lawn chemicals and air pollutants.

Maintaining a healthy weight, titer in place of automatic revaccination and waiting to neuter or spay your pet until the age of 18 months or 2 years (you can also use alternative ways to sterilize your pet without upsetting his or her hormone balance) are additional recommended steps to lower your dog’s cancer risk. As dogs help researchers to learn more about human cancers, you can also take these proactive steps to optimize your dog’s health and well-being.

That being said, if your dog or cat is diagnosed with cancer, or you are concerned about your pet’s future health, my first recommendation is to team up with an integrative oncologist and functional medicine vet well-versed in immunonutrition.

From Mercola Healthy Pets