Lymphoma is a cancer involving cells of the lymphatic system: lymphocytes, cells responsible for immune functions.
In humans, lymphoma accounts for about 4% of all cancers in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center, it is estimated that in 2016 more than 70,000 people will develop lymphoma (40,000 men and 30,000 women) and 20,000 people will die from it (https: // cancerstatisticscenter .cancer.org). In France, the Institute for Public Health Surveillance estimates 11,600 new cases for 2011.
The development of this cancer is often due to multiple causes but some risk factors are now well identified. Occupational and environmental exposure has been highlighted, including the influence of pesticides or other chemicals that increase the risk of developing lymphoma. Today, improved DNA sequencing techniques for research and diagnosis have significantly advanced our understanding of large deregulated pathways. However, although knowledge of this condition is improving, there is still room for improvement in providing patient-specific therapeutic solutions.
In dogs, as in humans, lymphoma is a family of very heterogeneous cancers. It is one of the most common cancers in dogs, for which 250,000 new cases are estimated in the United States in 2014 (Schiffman & Breen, 2015) with an incidence of 20 to 107/100 000, against 19.6 / 100 000 in humans (Ito et al., 2014).
Veterinarians and some breeders have long been aware of the “fragility” of certain dog breeds that have predispositions to lymphoma and even some subtypes. Due to the homology between lymphoma in humans and dogs, both at the clinical, histopathological and treatment response levels, our team has been investigating the genetic causes of different types of lymphoma in dogs, in several predisposed breeds, in order to discover the molecular mechanisms that will be used for research in dogs and humans.
Genetic analysis involves comparing genomes (DNA extracted from blood and tumors) from affected dogs to the genomes of healthy dogs. This allows, following statistical analysis, to identify regions on the chromosomes, which will be specifically related to the disease and which are therefore likely to carry genetic alterations involved in the appearance of the tumor and its development.
The results can then be used :
- to identify prognostic markers and develop early screening tests, based on genetic risk factors in dogs,
- to transfer this data to human lymphoma research.
We are looking for :
- Affected dogs: all breeds, all ages
- Healthy controls: all breeds older than 10 years
To participate in this research, please send us, for each dog :
- a blood sample on EDTA tube: CNRS_Lymphome_Protocole
- a clinical questionnaire : CNRS_Lymphome_Questionnaire
- a copy of the dog’s pedigree (if possible and if available)
- an histological report (if available)
This work is carried out at the CNRS in Rennes, in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Devauchelle (Dr. Micen-Vet, Créteil), Dr. Jérôme Abadie (LHA, ENV Nantes) thanks to veterinary histopathology laboratories (LAPVSO, Toulouse and IDEXX Alfort). ) and with the help of many veterinary practitioners, many owners and breeders who agree to take their dog (s) and we thank especially.
We recall that the data collected at the CNRS remain confidential.
For more information, you can contact our team by phone at 02 23 23 45 09 or by email cani-dna@univ-rennes1.fr.
