An international research team with the participation of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Vetmeduni) has created the most comprehensive genetic atlas for cat cancer to date. 493 tumors from 13 different types of cancer were examined, as well as healthy tissue from the affected cats.

The aim of the study was to systematically record typical genetic changes in feline cancer, compare it with human cancers and identify possible targets for new therapies. The results show clear parallels between cats and humans. The tumor suppressor gene TP53 was particularly frequently affected, which was altered in about a third of all cases examined – a pattern that is also known in human medicine. Other often mutated genes include FBXW7, CTNNB1 and PIK3CA.

However, differences occur in certain types of cancer. For example, FBXW7 is often altered in cat breast cancer, while TP53 tends to dominate in humans in comparable tumors. Such species-specific profiles make cats a potentially valuable model for selected human cancers.

The analysis also provides clues to possible triggers. In the case of skin tumors, more than half of the cases showed traces of UV-light-related damage, comparable to sun-induced skin cancer in humans. DNA from papillomaviruses has also been detected in some tumors, which may be involved in tumorigenesis.

A characteristic mutation pattern is striking: The tumors either show numerous small point mutations or large chromosomal restructuring – a combined occurrence of both patterns is rare. This either-or principle largely corresponds to the observations in human oncology.

There are concrete perspectives for treatment. In more than half of the tumors, mutations were found in genes that are in principle vulnerable to existing drugs or drugs in development. Overall, the authors consider targeted therapy to be possible for about 37 percent of the tumors examined. In 67 cases, the changes correspond to genes that are already considered treatable in human medicine, including KIT and PIK3CA.

The study underlines the close relationship between cat and human cancer and supports the One Medicine approach, in which findings from veterinary medicine and human medicine are used mutually. At the same time, differences between the species open up new insights into biological mechanisms.

The study was carried out in a large international cooperation under the leadership of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge (UK) and the University of Guelph (Canada). The Vetmeduni was involved with the participation of the Center for Pathobiology.

Original Paper:

The oncogenome of the domestic cat | Science

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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