The Jackson Laboratory launched the Tallwood Canine Cancer Research Initiative, which will create a biobank of dog tumors that the nonprofit biomedical research institution plans to use and share with researchers around the world to provide new insights into cures for cancer in humans and dogs.
JAX will identify and work closely with veterinary centers. When a canine patient at one of the JAX’s veterinary partner organizations is diagnosed with a cancer of interest, its owner can opt to have the veterinarian donate their dog’s tumor to TCCRI when it’s removed during the dog’s cancer treatment.
JAX will use the tumor to create a patient-derived xenograft cancer model and sequence each tumor model established, much like the organization’s human PDX resource. PDX tumors are grown in mice, and can provide information including how cancer changes over time and what therapeutics are most effective. JAX will use these PDX models for its ongoing cancer research programs, as well as make them available to researchers around the world to accelerate the process of cancer treatment discovery.
JAX investigators will also sequence the DNA from healthy canines of specific breeds.
JAX received a $500,000 gift for the Tallwood Canine Cancer Research Initiative from an anonymous Hartford-area donor. The TCCRI project began last month with the collection of DNA from the first healthy canine sample—the donor family’s dog, Patrick, an Irish Wolfhound.
