{"entity":{"id":"idea-bio1-comparative-oncology-dogs","kind":"idea","name":"Pet dogs with spontaneous cancer as a bridge before human trials","aka":[],"tldr":"Dogs get cancers that closely resemble human ones, with real immune systems and years of natural history. Treating them, with owner consent, can test drugs in a way mice cannot.","summary":"Comparative oncology trials in client-owned dogs with spontaneous osteosarcoma, lymphoma, bladder cancer and glioma provide outbred, immunocompetent, spontaneously arising tumours with intact microenvironments. The NCI Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium has run such studies and informed human dosing for several agents. Capacity, standardisation and regulatory recognition, rather than concept, limit its use.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"NCI Comparative Oncology Program","url":"https://ccr.cancer.gov/comparative-oncology-program"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["sarcoma","glioblastoma","dlbcl"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["nci"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-preclinical-models","b-translational-valley"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Agents tested in a standardised canine trial before human phase 1 show better prediction of dose-limiting toxicity and biological activity than mouse data alone, reducing early clinical failures.","rationale":"Spontaneous canine tumours share genomics and metastatic behaviour with human counterparts and progress on a compressed timescale, giving survival readouts within one to two years.","test":"Run parallel canine and murine studies for five agents entering human development and compare which better predicted human toxicity and pharmacodynamics.","maturity":"early-clinical","actor":"research","cost":"medium","horizonYears":5},"route":"/ideas/idea-bio1-comparative-oncology-dogs/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"dlbcl","kind":"cancer","name":"Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma","route":"/cancers/dlbcl/"},{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"},{"id":"sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)","route":"/cancers/sarcoma/"}],"institution":[{"id":"nci","kind":"institution","name":"National Cancer Institute (NIH)","route":"/institutions/nci/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-preclinical-models","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Lab models that fail to predict what happens in patients","route":"/bottlenecks/b-preclinical-models/"},{"id":"b-translational-valley","kind":"bottleneck","name":"The valley of death between lab and product","route":"/bottlenecks/b-translational-valley/"}]}}