Mast cell tumor (MCT) is the most common malignant canine skin tumor, which accounts for 16~21% of all skin tumors. Although all breeds have a potential risk for developing MCTs, many pure breeds(e.g., Boxers, Boston Terriers) are predisposed, resulting in a high disease incidence. Despite the efforts, clinical management decisions are difficult because of the challenging biological behavior of some MCTs and the inaccuracy of the predictive and prognostic biomarkers or other molecular descriptors (i.e., c-KIT staining pattern and mutation status, KI-67, AgNOr). While surgery is the mainstay of managing canine MCTs, toceranib phosphate (Palladia) showed clinical benefits to those MCTs that require chemotherapy. However, most will develop acquired resistance within months of starting the treatment.
Currently, there are no means of identification of treatment resistance apart from clinical characteristics, which usually capture the relapse late, when the disease is already disseminated. In addition, most procedures used for monitoring patients with MCT require sedation or general anesthesia. Early disease progression detection by quantifying minimal residual disease is thus an unmet clinical need. The development of such an assay could significantly affect disease management, improve patient outcomes and welfare, and help emerge novel therapeutic targets through better patient stratification. Continue reading “Research Update 03368-MY1: Advancing Canine Health: Liquid Biopsy for Early Relapse Detection and Improved Treatment of Mast Cell Tumors”