FidoCure® Veterinary Team Blog

Read the latest in veterinary oncology research and FidoCure® scientific and clinical updates from our team of experts and advisors

FidoCure® Precision Medicine Data Showcased at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)

At the AACR 2023 annual meeting,  Dr. Lucas Rodrigues, Head of Veterinary Research at FidoCure®, presented the results of two innovative studies which demonstrated the power of real-world data from dogs with cancer to drive drug development strategies and inform human clinical trials.

The first study, titled "High frequency of TP53 mutations in canine skin tumors recapitulates solar induced human lesions representing an important research model of spontaneous diseases," focused on the similarities between skin tumors in dogs and humans caused by sun exposure. The study found a high frequency of TP53 mutations in canine skin tumors, mirroring those seen in humans with solar-induced skin lesions. This validates the use of dogs as a valuable research model for spontaneous diseases.

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World Veterinary Day Interview: Strengthening Veterinary Resilience

Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and toughness-- there are both physical and psychological resilience. Both have been severely tested these last few years with the pandemic, the current war, national divisions, etc. and have really affected veterinarians in the world at large.

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Rising Women in Veterinary Oncology

An introduction from Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Gerry Post

Veterinary medicine is changing. I remember one of my first days in veterinary school looking at the class pictures that were hung in the hallways. I remember seeing the first woman in one of these class photos and noting that she was still practicing.

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Medical Brief:The Median Isn’t the Message

The “Median Isn’t the Message” is an essay written by Stephen J. Gould in 1991 as part of his book Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History. The essay has been reprinted many times for many different audiences. In 2013 it was reprinted in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics. I believe that Stephen J. Gould’s message is as relevant today as it was when he originally wrote it. I thought this essay so important and so well written, that it was required reading for every one of my residents over the past 20 years.

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Medical Brief: Melanoma Understanding the DNA Mutation Landscape

Melanocytic tumors are a relatively common group of neoplasms in dogs that originate from a pigment producing cell or melanocyte from the epidermis, dermis or hair follicles.  Melanomas are the most common type of melanocytic tumor in the dog and affects approximately 19,000 dogs annually in the US, representing 7% of all malignant tumors in this species. Melanomas occurs in middle-aged to older dogs with mean age of 11.6 years, with no sex predisposition. Some breeds are more likely to develop melanoma in certain locations than others suggesting genetic factors are involved in melanoma development. The exposure to ultraviolet light is not a common etiology for most canine melanomas, as they occur predominantly in the mouth,  at the nail bed, or on the skin which is typically covered by hair. This situation is similar to that for mucosal melanomas in people 1–5.

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