I am writing to you on behalf of the staff at the Animal Health Trust (AHT). Their letter below informs Boxerowners of important research investigating cancer in the breed and how they can contribute. The Kennel Club strongly encourages you to contribute to this project because the information that it generates will be of great value to the breed. Kind regards,
The Animal Health Trust (AHT) in Newmarket would like to invite you to take part in studies being carried out on 3 types of cancer that affect Boxers. You have been sent this letter by the Kennel Club, on behalf of the AHT, because you are the registered owner of a Boxer. However, please note that the fact that you have been sent this letter in no way implies that we believe your dog will become affected by any of the cancers that we are studying. We sincerely hope that you will be able to participate in these studies as they may help future generations of dogs. However, if you have already contributed to any of our studies thank you for your help. At the AHT we are undertaking research that is seeking to address the issue that pedigree dogs develop cancer more frequently than people. We hope that this research will eventually lead to both a reduction i n the numbers of dogs affected by common cancers, and the development of new treatments for these cancers. We would like your help with research studies that are attempting to identify inherited ‘genetic alterations’ that cause Boxers to have a higher risk (than most other pedigree dog breeds) of developing gliomas (brain tumours), lymphoma and mast cell tumours, respectively. In the long term, we hope that the research will lead to the development of ‘DNA tests’ to identify Boxers that carry the genetic alterations that cause the increased risk. Such tests will be invaluable for vets as they will identify dogs who may benefit from careful monitoring for early detection of cancer (enabling early treatment), and it will also help breeders to reduce the incidence of Boxers affected by these cancers. Significantly, the research will increase understanding of how the 3 cancers develop, promoting the development of new therapies. Research progress to date
The study on mast cell tumours began in 2010. In the last 5 years we have analysed DNA samples from 139 Boxers with mast cell tumours and 117 Boxers (of middle-old age), searching for genetic markers (called ‘SNPs’) that are present much more frequently in the DNA of Boxers with mast cell tumours. Such SNPs would identify parts of the DNA that contain genetic alterations that cause an increased risk of developing mast cell tumours. Unfortunately, the results obtained so far are inconclusive, and so we need to analyse additional DNA samples from both Boxers with mast cell tumours and unaffected dogs, and continually re-analyse the data until we obtain definite results.
Please could you help us with our studies?
Taking part is easy.
If your dog has been diagnosed with either glioma, lymphoma, or a mast cell tumour, or is at least 10 years of age and has never been affected by any type of cancer, we would like to hear from you.
Simply E-mail oncologyres@aht.org.uk, or telephone 01638 751000 Ext. 1214, to request a cheek swab kit. Each kit is supplied with x 3 swabs, full instructions, a sample submission form and a reply envelope. Unfortunately, as a charity we are unable to pay for the swabs to be returned to us, but a ‘large letter’ first class or second class stamp will cover the return postage. If your dog is currently affected by either glioma, lymphoma, or a mast cell tumour we will also ask you if it is possible for you to ask your vet to retain (in a special preservative that we will provide) for our research a small piece of any tumour biopsy that is surgically removed. The more samples that we receive the more likely it is that we will be able to identify inherited genetic alterations that cause Boxers to have a higher risk of developing the 3 types of cancer. If you submit a sample, all informat ion relating to you and your dog will remain strictly confidential. If you have any questions about taking part in the study, please contact Victoria Pilfold-Wilkie by E-mail to oncologyres@aht.org.uk or by telephoning 01638 751000 ext 1214. Further information about the work that we do at the Animal Health Trust can be found on our website here.
Yours Faithfully
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Dr Mike Starkey
Molecular Oncology Research Group Leader | |
Victoria Pilfold-Wilkie
Sample and Data Curator
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