Development and characterization of mouse anti-canine PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies and their expression in canine tumors by immunohistochemistry in vitro

Cancer Immunotherapy

The enhanced understanding of immunology experienced over the last 5 decades afforded through the tools of molecular biology has recently translated into cancer immunotherapy becoming one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding fields. Human cancer immunotherapy is now recognized as one of the pillars of treatment alongside surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The field of veterinary cancer immunotherapy has also rapidly advanced in the last decade with a handful of commercially available products and a plethora of investigational cancer immunotherapies, which will hopefully expand our veterinary oncology treatment toolkit over time.

Canine Mammary Cancer: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Mammary cancer is the most frequently diagnosed neoplasia in women and non-spayed female dogs and is one of the leading causes of death in both species. Canines develop spontaneous mammary tumors that share a significant number of biological, clinical, pathological and molecular characteristics with human breast cancers. This review provides a detailed description of the histological, molecular and clinical aspects of mammary cancer in canines; it discusses risk factors and currently available diagnostic and treatment options, as well as remaining challenges and unanswered questions. The incidence of mammary tumors is highly variable and is impacted by biological, pathological, cultural and socioeconomic factors, including hormonal status, breed, advanced age, obesity and diet. Diagnosis is mainly based on histopathology, although several efforts have been made to establish a molecular classification of canine mammary tumors to widen the spectrum of treatment options, which today rely heavily on surgical removal of tumors. Lastly, standardization of clinical study protocols, development of canine-specific biological tools, establishment of adequate dog-specific disease biomarkers and identification of targets for the development of new therapies that could improve survival and have less adverse effects than chemotherapy are among the remaining challenges.