Will Dogs' Systems Help Humans Cure Cancer for Both Species?

Two researchers with personal stakes in the outcome make use of dogs' similarity to people.

Anyone who has loved a dog as part of the family can tell you just how much dogs have in common with humans. The joy that they show when they're rewarded, their shame when they're punished for doing something wrong, the way that they bond with a family and its home -- all these things feel intimately human, and it's why so many of us see dogs as companions more than pets or property.

But like good companions, we share a lot of bad with the good. One of the things that dogs and humans have in common is cancer. Just like us, the cells in a dog's body can mutate and grow into tumors until everything else in the body stops working.

Two scientists in Philadelphia and New Jersey are hoping that something good might come out of that similarity between dogs and humans. Professor Karen Sorenemo studies mammary cancer, the dog equivalent of breast cancer, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Since 2009, she has collaborated with Olga Troanskaya, an oncologist at Princeton, to see what studying cancer in dogs can tell us about cancer in humans.

The two met when Troanskaya brought her own dog, suffering from cancer, to be treated by Sorenemo. Over the next six months, they talked about their work and began to see the benefits of putting their heads together.

At Penn, Sorenemo runs the Shelter Canine Mammary Tumor Program, which cares for shelter dogs that have developed mammary cancer. The project means a lot to her, she told Delaware Online: "It's a feel-good program for me personally because it has provided me the opportunity to care for these more vulnerable dogs who are mistreated and neglected and really need to have their luck turn. ... The dogs receive care, and if we can learn how their mammary cancer evolves we may be able to determine if there are comparisons with humans."

The rate of mammary cancer in shelter animals is extremely high, because so many of the dogs are unspayed. Spaying a dog before she goes into heat for the first time reduces her chances of developing mammary cancer to only 0.5 percent; unspayed adult dogs develop it four times more often than spayed dogs.

From the scientific perspective, the shorter lifespan of dogs also means that the cancer grows and spreads more quickly. It's easier for doctors to see tumors in many different stages of development in dogs as compared with studying human tumors. When Sorenemo removes tumors from the dogs, she freezes the tissue and sends it to Princeton, where Troanskaya and her team performs molecular analysis on them. What they really want is to find what hormones or genetic factors cause a benign tumor to become malignant.

For both women, it's a deeply personal study as well: Sorenemo's mother died of breast cancer, and shortly after she teamed up with Troanskaya, her sister and Troanskaya's mother were diagnosed with the same disease.

As for the dogs themselves, not only do they get the needed medical care, but coming to Penn is an escape from overcrowded shelters. When their treatment is done, the former patients are placed in foster care or with permanent families.

Via Delaware Online

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Were Prehistoric Dogs the Key to Early Humans' Survival?

We might have more to thank our dogs for than just friendship and walks in the park. 

Prehistoric tool by Shutterstock.com

Two species with highly advanced capabilities -- that is, compared to other animals -- lived in Europe and the Middle East between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago. One of these species was the Neanderthals. The other was the species paleoanthropologists call "modern humans" -- and which were anatomically identical to us.

Why did our direct ancestors survive and thrive while the Neanderthals, who arrived in those regions first and had remarkably big heads, died out? 

A newly released study set to be published in the July issue of the journal Science examined 164 archaeological sites throughout southwestern France that date back to the period when Neanderthals and modern humans overlapped. Based on this study and his own analyses of excavations involving fossilized canid bones, anthropologist Pat Shipman has proposed a startling new theory: Modern humans, Shipman suggests, succeeded because of their close bond with dogs.

Canine gaze by Shutterstock.com

"Domesticating dogs clearly improves humans’ hunting success and efficiency. ... If Neanderthals did not have domestic dogs and anatomically modern humans did, these hunting companions could have made all the difference in the modern human–Neanderthal competition," Shipman writes in American Scientist. His theory is further explained in The Atlantic:

"The affinity between humans and dogs manifested itself mainly in the way that it would go on to do for many more thousands of years: in the hunt. Dogs would help humans to identify their prey; but they would also work, the theory goes, as beasts of burden -- playing the same role for early humans as they played for the Blackfeet and Hidatsa [tribes] of the American West, who bred large, strong dogs specifically for hauling strapped-on packs. (Paleolithic dogs were big to begin with: They had, their skeletons suggest, a body mass of at least 70 pounds and a shoulder height of at least 2 feet -- which would make them, at minimum, the size of a modern-day German Shepherd.) 

"Since transporting animal carcasses is an energy-intensive task, getting dogs to do that work would mean that humans could concentrate their energy on more productive endeavors: hunting, gathering, reproducing."

Shipman also cites recent studies confirming what we already knew: that dogs are highly responsive to the facial expressions of their human companions. "Humans love to look into their dogs’ eyes to 'read' their emotions. Dogs apparently feel the same. Maybe -- just maybe -- this reciprocal communication was instrumental in the survival of our species."

Think of that the next time you scoop poop. 

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Which popular drugs for humans harm pets?

Of the five top-selling human drugs, do you know which ones are the most toxic if accidentally ingested by your pet?

According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the top five drugs — which together accounted for $28.9 billion in sales last year — prescribed for people in 2010 were (in order):

Lipitor® (atorvastatin), the top-selling ‘statin,’ known for reducing cholesterol levelsNexium® (esomeprazole), which curtails gastric acid production and lowers ulcer susceptibilityPlavix® (clopidogrel), a clot inhibitor, lessens the incidence of strokeAdvair Diskus® (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol), an inhaled anti-asthma medicationAbilify® (aripiprazole), used to treat depression and bipolar disorders.

Although it’s best to keep any human-drugs away from pets, according to the Pet Poison Helpline, of the top five, the bottom two are potentially the most lethal. When it comes to Advair®:

(D)ogs that chew into them are exposed to massive amounts of the drug all at once. This often results in heart arrhythmias, an elevated heart rate, agitation, vomiting and even acute collapse. Severe electrolyte abnormalities such as very low potassium levels are likely and can be life-threatening without immediate veterinary treatment.

As for Abilify®:

It is important to keep this drug out of the reach of pets, as ingestion can result in profound lethargy, vomiting, hyperthermia, significant changes in heart rate and blood pressure, and seizures. If a pet ingests this drug, immediate veterinary attention is needed.

However, as any veterinarian will tell you, the most lethal drugs for pets are likely in your medicine cabinet right now, and you didn’t need a prescription for either of them.

1. NSAIDs (e.g. Advil, Aleve and Motrin)
Topping our Top 10 list are common household medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), which include common names such as ibuprofen (e.g., Advil and some types of Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). While these medications are safe for people, even one or two pills can cause serious harm to a pet. Dogs, cats, birds and other small mammals (ferrets, gerbils and hamsters) may develop serious stomach and intestinal ulcers as well as kidney failure.

2. Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol)
When it comes to pain medications, acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) is certainly popular. Even though this drug is very safe, even for children, this is not true for pets—especially cats. One regular strength tablet of acetaminophen may cause damage to a cat’s red blood cells, limiting their ability to carry oxygen. In dogs, acetaminophen leads to liver failure and, in large doses, red blood cell damage.

It’s best practice to make sure all your medications are far out of reach of your pets, and you should never store drugs in plastic (even Ziploc-type) bags. They’re too easily chewed through, and since the bags are transparent, the pets can see the potential goodies inside.

Today is World Turtle Day! May 23, 2011 is World Turtle Day, according to American Tortoise Rescue (ATR). Susan Tellem, ATR’s co-founder, talks about why today matters.

World Turtle Day was started to increase respect and knowledge for the world’s oldest creatures. These gentle animals have been around for about 200 million years, yet they are rapidly disappearing as a result of the exotic food industry, habitat destruction and the cruel pet trade,” said Tellem. “We are seeing smaller turtles coming into the rescue meaning that older adults are disappearing from the wild, and the breeding stock is drastically reduced. It is a very sad time for turtles and tortoises of the world.” She added that many sea turtles lost their lives in 2010 thanks to BP’s uncontrolled oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. “It’s a tragic example of putting profits before preserving our environment,” Tellem said.

Lies, damn lies, and…. Brent Toellner of KC Dog Blog does a great job here exploding one of the oddly persistent myths about pibbles.

The prodigal cat — and dog — return: The aftermath of tornado damage in Alabama was unremittingly awful. I had trouble watching some of the coverage, but my wife said I just had to see this video from CNN.  I had to watch it a couple times to believe what I was seeing. The same day, Susan Fox sent me this link from SFGate, so you could read an even more improbable saga. The moral of the second story: microchips are a good thing.

Stories from the road: Dr. Becker is nearing the stretch run of his Big Bus Tour, but somewhere in the great plains he still had time to forward a story about a man and his dog. The man is named Marty Kihn (no relation, I’m pretty sure). The dog is a big, not very well behaved Berner named Hola (shown at right). Marty lived in New York City, was drinking heavily, and had lost nearly everything, including his wife. All he had left was Hola, and ultimately it might have been Hola who saved Marty. All in all, a terrific feel-good story from foxnews.com.

Wanna go for a ride? The cat-came-back video from Alabama wasn’t the best video of the week. This one from AutoNews about a road test in England is. I feel really badly for the poor St. Bernard. If I were him, I’d have taken one look and said “Sorry, ol’ chap, have a good time. I’d rather walk.”

Travel tips: This is a good time to start discussing travel tips for your pets this summer, but the real reason I’m mentioning this story from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is to draw your attention to Best Western’s choice of new pet travel expert. Talk amongst yourselves.

Finally….the picture of the week. Thanks to my pal Maria Goodavage at Dogster for this wonderful picture. Hey, how about a caption contest? C’mon, gang, let’s hear the nominees for what you think the dog on the right is thinking. Comment away, and I’ll see you next week.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credits: Pills, flickr creative commons (RambergMediaImages). Evil Knievel, tortoise.com. Hola, foxnews. Puzzlement, dogster.

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