Emerging Translational Opportunities In Comparative Oncology With Companion Canine Cancers

Traditional preclinical mouse models of cancer have been very useful for studying the biology of cancer, however they often lack key characteristics of human cancers. As a result, many novel drug candidates fail in human clinical trials despite evidence of drug efficacy in those preclinical models. Thus, researchers are seeking new approaches to augment preclinical knowledge before undertaking clinical trials for human patients. Recently, there has been renewed interest in comparative oncology - the study of naturally developing cancers in animals as models for human disease - as one way to improve cancer drug development and reduce attrition of investigational agents. Tumors that spontaneously develop in pet dogs and other companion animals as a result of normal aging share many characteristics with human cancers, such as histological appearance, tumor genetics, biological behavior, molecular targets, and therapeutic response. In June 2015 the Institute of Medicine hosted a workshop to examine the rationale and potential for integrating clinical trials for pet patients with naturally occurring cancers into translational cancer research and development. Participants discussed the research needs, strategies, and resources to support greater integration of clinical trials for pets with cancer into translational research pathways, and challenges and potential solutions for facilitating that integration. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Learning from Disease in Pets: A ‘One Health’ Model for Discovery is the first encompassing reference guide for veterinarians, researchers and physicians on conducting studies using spontaneous models of disease in animals. The study of naturally occurring disease in (pet) animals can help model our understanding of the biology, prevention and therapy of human and animal diseases. Studies of pet dogs, for instance, can aid treatment of complex medical problems such as cancer, orthopedic, cardiopulmonary, and neuro-inflammatory diseases, and zoonotic infections. Each chapter within this novel cross-species approach is contributed by a leader, or leaders, in their field of research. Using clinical trials to learn how pets with real diseases respond to therapy can lead to breakthroughs in human medicine, as well as benefiting pets suffering from otherwise debilitating illness. Despite similarities of diseases across species, there are very few spontaneous models of disease used in research compared with models where disease is induced in healthy laboratory animals. Many medical researchers and veterinarians have a multitude of questions regarding how to use naturally occurring diseases in pets for the discovery of treatments and diagnostics: this book will demonstrate how to safely make this happen. This book encourages veterinarians to build on and disseminate existing findings for the wider benefit of pets and humans. Many pets suffering from incurable illnesses may benefit from clinical trials; the book includes a section on the imperative communication styles necessary within the research environment and with clients, a compelling discussion on the ethics of using pets in veterinary clinical research, comprehensive tables of diseases that spontaneously occur in animals and humans, the regulatory requirements necessary to move therapy from benchside research to patient bedside, as well as intricate details on how to design a robust clinical study.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 1st World Congress on Electroporation and Pulsed Electric Fields in Biology, Medicine and Food & Environmental Technologies (WC2015). The congress took place in Portorož, Slovenia, during the week of September 6th to 10th, 2015. The scientific part of the Congress covered different aspects of electroporation and related technologies and included the following main topics: · Application of pulsed electric fields technology in food: challenges and opportunities · Electrical impedance measurement for assessment of electroporation yield · Electrochemistry and electroporation · Electroporation meets electrostimulation · Electrotechnologies for food and biomass treatment · Food and biotechnology applications · In vitro electroporation - basic mechanisms · Interfacial behaviour of lipid-assemblies, membranes and cells in electric fields · Irreversible electroporation in clinical use · Medical applications: electrochemotherapy · Medical applications: gene therapy · Non-electric field-based physical methods inducing cell poration and enhanced molecule transfer · Non-thermal plasmas for food safety, environmental applications and medical treatments · PEF for the food industry: fundamentals and applications · PEF proce ss integration - complex process chains and process combinations in the food industry · Predictable animal models · Pulsed electric fields and electroporation technologies in bioeconomy · Veterinary medical applications

Cancer cells exist in an ever-changing “ecology” and are subject to evolutionary pressures just like any species in nature. This edited book explores the following themes: 1) how the dynamics of mutation, epigenetics, and gene expression noise are sources of genetic diversity; 2) how scarce resources influence cancer therapy resistance; 3) how predator-prey dynamics are mirrored in immune-cancer cross-talk; 4) how cancer cells parallel niche construction theory; 5) how changing fitness landscapes enable cancer growth; and 6) how cancer cells interact within the body. The book is a resource for understanding cancer as a disease of multicellularity grounded in evolutionary principles. By using this knowledge, researchers are starting to exploit these behaviors for treatment paradigms. Key Features Bridges disciplines exemplifying the ways disparate fields create new perspectives when integrated. Offers insights from leading scholars in cancer biology, ecology and evolutionary biology. Provides a timely recognition by oncologists that evolutionary paradigms are crucial for breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Integrates basic and applied sciences of oncology and evolutionary biology.

Cancers of the central nervous system are among the most lethal of human neoplasms. They are recalcitrant to even intensive multimodality therapies that include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Moreover, especially in children, the consequences of these therapies can itself be devastating and involve serious cognitive and developmental disorders. It is small wonder that such cancers have come under the intense scrutiny of each of the subspecialties of clinical care and investigation as well as attracting some of the best basic research scientists. Their joint efforts are gradually peeling away the mysteries surrounding the genesis and progression of these tumors and inroads are being steadily made into understanding why they resist therapies. This makes it an especially opportune time to assemble some of the best investigators in the field to review the ‘‘state of the art’’ in the various arenas that comprise the assault on CNS tumors. The breadth of this effort by the clinical and basic neuro-oncology community is quite simply amazing. To a large extent, it evolves from the knowledge of the human genome and its regulation that has been hard won over the past two decades.