Abstract
BackgroundCanine cancer registry data can be put to good use in epidemiological studies. Quantitative comparison of tumour types may reveal unusual cancer frequencies, providing directions for research and generation of hypotheses of cancer causation in a specific area, and suggest leads for identifying risk factors. Here we report canine cancer incidence rates calculated from a population-based registry in an area without any known specific environmental hazard.ResultsIn its 90 months of operation from 2001 to 2008 (the observation period in this study), the population-based Piedmont Canine Cancer Registry collected data on 1175 tumours confirmed by histopathological diagnosis. The incidence rate was 804 per 100,000 dog-years for malignant tumours and 897 per 100,000 dog-years for benign tumours. Higher rates for all cancers were observed in purebred dogs, particularly in Yorkshire terrier and Boxer. The most prevalent malignant neoplasms were cutaneous mastocytoma and hemangiopericytoma, and mammary gland complex carcinoma and simplex carcinoma.ConclusionsThe Piedmont canine cancer registry is one of few of its kind whose operations have been consistently supported by long-term public funding. The registry-based cancer incidence rates were estimated with particular attention to the validity of data collection, thus minimizing the potential for bias. The findings on cancer incidence rates may provide a reliable reference for comparison studies. Researches conducted on dogs, used as sentinels for community exposure to environmental carcinogens, can be useful to detect excess risks in the incidence of malignant tumours in the human population.
Highlights
Canine cancer registry data can be put to good use in epidemiological studies
The second capture was obtained through an anonymous questionnaire survey (31.35% response rate) that yielded the identification of 627 dogs, 497 of which (79.3%) were recaptured as already registered with the canine registry office
Owing to the incompleteness of the census data, only the capture-recapture estimates were used as denominators for computing the incidence rates
Summary
Canine cancer registry data can be put to good use in epidemiological studies. Quantitative comparison of tumour types may reveal unusual cancer frequencies, providing directions for research and generation of hypotheses of cancer causation in a specific area, and suggest leads for identifying risk factors. Baioni et al BMC Veterinary Research (2017) 13:203 known, and knowledge of the animal population size of a specific area is required for estimating the incidence of zoonotic diseases [3], veterinary epidemiologists face numerous hurdles to arriving at a correct estimate of an animal population at risk. To get around this problem, some registries have obtained the denominator from pet insurance company databases [4, 5], but with the risk of having an incomplete denominator and introducing a systematic error. It is acknowledged that the owners of dogs with cancer will often use veterinary services whereby cases are detected and reported, restricting the denominator to dogs receiving veterinary care
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