Abstract
Canine mammary tumors (CMTs) are the most common neoplasm in intact female dogs. Canine mammary cancer (CMC) represents 50% of CMTs, and besides surgery, which is the elective treatment, additional targeted and non-targeted therapies could offer benefits in terms of survival to these patients. Also, CMC is considered a good spontaneous intermediate animal model for the research of human breast cancer (HBC), and therefore, the study of new treatments for CMC is a promising field in comparative oncology. Dogs with CMC have a comparable disease, an intact immune system, and a much shorter life span, which allows the achievement of results in a relatively short time. Besides conventional chemotherapy, innovative therapies have a large niche of opportunities. In this article, a comprehensive review of the current research in adjuvant therapies for CMC is conducted to gather available information and evaluate the perspectives. Firstly, updates are provided on the clinical–pathological approach and the use of conventional therapies, to delve later into precision therapies against therapeutic targets such as hormone receptors, tyrosine kinase receptors, p53 tumor suppressor gene, cyclooxygenases, the signaling pathways involved in epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and immunotherapy in different approaches. A comparison of the different investigations on targeted therapies in HBC is also carried out. In the last years, the increasing number of basic research studies of new promising therapeutic agents on CMC cell lines and CMC mouse xenografts is outstanding. As the main conclusion of this review, the lack of effort to bring the in vitro studies into the field of applied clinical research emerges. There is a great need for well-planned large prospective randomized clinical trials in dogs with CMC to obtain valid results for both species, humans and dogs, on the use of new therapies. Following the One Health concept, human and veterinary oncology will have to join forces to take advantage of both the economic and technological resources that are invested in HBC research, together with the innumerable advantages of dogs with CMC as a spontaneous animal model.
Highlights
Canine mammary tumors (CMTs) are a highly heterogeneous group of neoplasms that represent between 50 and 70% of all tumors in intact female dogs [1,2,3,4]
A pathological staging system inspired in human oncology, in which T is replaced by pathologic tumor size and N is replaced by the pathologic nodal status, with the addition of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) has been proposed, the stages being 0, I, II, IIIA, and IIIB [22]
Another clinical trial with dogs presenting Canine mammary cancer (CMC) utilized nanoparticles carrying DNA plasmids coding canine interferonβ and herpes simplex virus (HSV) thymidine kinase, which were injected into the tumor bed during mastectomy; afterwards, subcutaneous injections of the nanoparticles associated with a human granulocyte– macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-2, mixed with allogeneic mammary carcinoma extracts, were periodically administered
Summary
Canine mammary tumors (CMTs) are a highly heterogeneous group of neoplasms that represent between 50 and 70% of all tumors in intact female dogs [1,2,3,4]. In spite that the application of clinical staging of patients with CMC and the histological grading of the neoplasms have helped to standardize prognosis and treatments, no precision therapies are routinely administered to dogs bearing mammary neoplasms. For all these reasons, the CMC-related mortality is relatively high: over 40% of the patients die within a year after diagnosis [20]. A comprehensive review of the current research in adjuvant therapies for CMC is conducted here to gather available information and evaluate the perspectives
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
