title: Species differences in tumour responses to cancer chemotherapy.
abstract: Despite advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted drug development, cancer remains a disease of high morbidity and mortality. The treatment of human cancer patients with chemotherapy has become commonplace and accepted over the past 100 years. In recent years, and with a similar incidence of cancer to people, the use of cancer chemotherapy drugs in veterinary patients such as the dog has also become accepted clinical practice. The poor predictability of tumour responses to cancer chemotherapy drugs in rodent models means that the standard drug development pathway is costly, both in terms of money and time, leading to many drugs failing in Phase I and II clinical trials. This has led to the suggestion that naturally occurring cancers in pet dogs may offer an alternative model system to inform rational drug development in human oncology. In this review, we will explore the species variation in tumour responses to conventional chemotherapy and highlight our understanding of the differences in pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics between humans and dogs. Finally, we explore the potential hurdles that need to be overcome to gain the greatest value from comparative oncology studies.
authors.affiliation: Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush EH25 9RG, UK.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.affiliation: University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2LF, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.affiliation: Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush EH25 9RG, UK david.argyle@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Argyle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000662:veterinary; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D004285:Dogs; D055808:Drug Discovery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*; D013045:Species Specificity; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: canine; chemotherapy; comparative oncology; dog; human