A massive new genetic database of canine tumors reveals that dog and human cancers are more similar than previously thought and may speed up cancer treatment for both

• A new study shows human and dog cancers share a high degree of genetic overlap.
• The study comes from a company that uses genetic information and AI to find biologic cancer treatments.

We share a lot with our dogs — a home, food, and sometimes a bed. But we also share something unfortunate: cancer.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in older dogs. Roughly 6 million pooches are diagnosed each year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

A massive new database of genetic information from dog tumors aims to use what we know about dog cancer to better treat it in humans.

It turns out some of the genes in dog tumors are highly similar to the genes in human tumors, according to a study released in the journal Nature in early July. The scientists determined this by analyzing 42,566 mutations they found in the 671 dogs studied.

This is exciting because this similarity may allow us to speed up the development of new cancer treatments for both humans and dogs, said Christina Lopes, the CEO of One World Health.

Lopes' company ran the study in partnership with the University of Georgia. She wants to use AI to analyze the database's genetic information to match a dog's tumor to the type of treatment that's most effective.

Why dogs may help accelerate cancer treatment

Researchers identified dogs as a good source for testing cancer protocols over a decade ago.

In fact, authorities like the FDA have asked for people to enroll their dogs in more clinical trials for cancer therapies because other animal studies just don't cut it. As of 2017, cancer animal research had a failure rate of 95%.

That's because common test subjects like mice, Lopes said, aren't as complex as humans, so what works on their cancer may not work in humans. But since dogs are more complex animals, what works on them may be more likely to work on humans.

Another reason this genetic similarity is exciting to Lopes and her team is because the genes that overlap are those that scientists are already focused on treating. So what we've been learning from humans we can apply to dogs, and vice versa, the paper said.

Scientists are already seeing promising results

Lopes and her team have begun seeing these results in the lab already by using their AI-assisted platform, called FidoCure.

They tested a drug called Eribulin in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Eisai, Lopes said. Using FidoCure, they selected dogs with a type of cancer that genetically mirrored human breast cancer.

After being treated with Eribulin, the dogs in the study survived over 120 days. This result was encouraging enough for the NIH to pick up the drug for trials in human patients.

This work with Eisai is an example of how their platform is making it easier for information to move between the animal world and the human world, said Dr. Gerald Post, a veterinary oncologist and Chief Medical Officer for FidoCure. He said this stage can often bog down drug development,

"From my perspective in the industry for 30 years, this is huge," he said.