While the prospect of a beloved pet developing cancer is an undeniably scary proposition, pet parents can take some degree of comfort in knowing that developments for the detection and treatment of cancer in animals are being made every day. In some cases, these developments are even outpacing advances in human medicine. While we all wait and Peter Kenseth and Holly Kenseth hope for a cure, diagnostics that allow for earlier detection and more effective treatment of cancer provide our best he Orange County Convention Cen- requires only a simple blood draw and is hope at improving the quality of life of ter provided a somewhat surreal stage in reportedly able to identify 89% of hem- affected pets and providing the maxiearly June, as thousands of veterinary and angiosarcomas and 74% of lymphomas, mum amount of quality time for them animal health professionals gathered for which account for approximately 1/3 of to spend with their pet parents. VMX 2021. While the conference offered cancers in dogs. Antech also showcased its CADET BRAF a virtual component, for many of the ~10,500 onsite attendees, it was the first and CADET BRAF Plus tests, which test in-person conference that they had attend- for transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) ed since COVID-19 largely shut down the and urothelial cancer (UC) in canines, based on the associated BRAF mutation. world over a year earlier. Additionally, Antech was one of two Attendance at VMX 2021 was down ~40% from the previous year’s ~18,000 companies to release a digital cytology attendees, but there were still significant analyzer. Antech’s Digital Cytology Scandevelopments unveiled at the conference. ner promises whole slide interpretation One of the most notable trends was the within 2 hours of submission. Heska also proliferation of oncology diagnostics and released a telecytology solution, “Heskatreatments. Given that the Veterinary View Telecytology,” which offers results Cancer Society states that cancer is the in as little as 15 minutes, utilizing a “netmain cause of death in 47% of dogs and work of senior, board-certified veterinary 32% of cats, it isn’t surprising that ani- clinical pathologists.” In situations where mal health diagnostics companies are a veterinarian believes that an undiagturning their attention to combating this nosed mass warrants being aspiration or biopsy, these developments promise dreadful disease. Many of the oncology diagnostics show- pet parents the ability to obtain a diagcased at VMX were screening tools to aid nosis quickly and accurately for their in cancer diagnosis for high-risk or elder- pet, and alleviates the uncertainty assoly canine patients. In what could be best ciated with having to send out tests for described as a shocking new product launch, external analysis. In some future cases, pets with mast PetDx released OncoK9, a liquid biopsy multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test cell tumors might even be able to receive that employs cutting-edge genomic analysis diagnosis and treatment on the same day. that leverages next-generation sequencing Virbac unveiled “Stelfonta,” an intratu(NGS) technology and proprietary bioin- moral injection for local treatment of formatics algorithms. While advances in non-metastatic tumors in canines. Virbac veterinary medicine usually lag advanc- claims the injection starts working within es in human medicine, OncoK9 beat its 2 hours, with tumors typically destroyed human liquid biopsy counterpart, Galleri by day 7. This new treatment presents a from Illumina-founded company GRAIL surgical alternative for the treatment of to market by a matter of days. PetDx was mast cell tumors. founded by Illumina’s former Chief Medical Officer, which may account for the similarity in timeline. Regardless, the technology offers pet parents the ability to proactively diagnose and treat cancer via a simple blood draw. Volition Veterinary also released Nu.Q Vet Cancer Screening test, which it is targeting towards older dogs (7+ years), for cases where there is a high suspicion of cancer, or as a complementary test for younger dogs of breeds with a higher risk for developing cancer (e.g., Golden Retrievers, Boxers, Flat Coated Retrievers, Beagles, Burmese Mountain dogs, Rottweilers, West Highland White Terriers and Shetland Sheepdogs). This test also Fall 2021 www.4LegsAndATail.com 21
Cancer in Canines: A Scary Proposition, but Advances Everyday T
