Hemangiosarcoma

Canine hemangiosarcoma is an incurable tumor of cells that line blood vessels (endothelial cells). Based on current estimates of the lifetime risk of cancer in dogs and the prevalence of hemangiosarcoma, we predict that of the 73.9 million pet dogs living in the United States today, as many as two million may get this cancer and die from it. Although dogs of any age and breed are susceptible to hemangiosarcoma, it occurs more commonly in dogs beyond middle age, and in breeds such as Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs, Portuguese Water Dogs, and Skye Terriers, among others.

Hemangiosarcoma is extremely indolent – that is, it develops slowly and is essentially painless – so clinical signs are usually not evident until the advanced stages when the tumors are resistant to most treatments. Less than 50% of dogs treated with standard-of-care of care for this tumor (surgery and intensive chemotherapy) survive more than six months. Many dogs die from severe internal bleeding before there is an opportunity to institute treatment. For this reason, our lab is working to develop a test for early detection, which will allow us to diagnose the disease before it is clinically evident.

Similarly, a number of novel approaches using targeted therapies and tumor vaccines to treat canine hemangiosarcoma are in preclinical development or in the early stages of clinical testing.