Introduction

Lymphoma is one of the most common canine cancers with an estimated incidence of 20–100 cases per 100,000 dogs. Liquid biopsy technology offers a novel, noninvasive approach to the identification and classification of lymphoma in dogs.

Methods

Blood samples from 57 dogs with a confirmed diagnosis of lymphoma were subjected to DNA extraction, proprietary library preparation, and next-generation sequencing. Sequencing data were analyzed using an internally developed bioinformatics pipeline to detect genomic alterations associated with the presence of cancer. The testing laboratory was blinded to the cancer status and type of cancer present in these patients until after test results were issued.

Results

In 57 dogs with lymphoma, the liquid biopsy test returned a positive result for 47 cases, yielding an overall sensitivity of 82%. When analyzed by subtype, the test showed 78% sensitivity for B-cell lymphoma cases (25/32), 100% for T-cell lymphoma (9/9), 50% for both B- and T-cell (1/2), and 86% for type ‘unknown’ (12/14). Furthermore, in the 47 screen positive cases, a ‘cancer signal origin’ prediction of “lymphoma” was provided in 19 cases. Among tested dogs with a confirmed cancer diagnosis other than lymphoma, none had a ‘cancer signal origin’ prediction of lymphoma.

Conclusion

A novel, blood-based canine cancer screening test was successful at detecting genomic alterations associated with cancer in 82% of dogs with a diagnosis of lymphoma. Additionally, the screening test was able to identify patterns of genomic abnormalities that were predictive of lymphoma in 40% of lymphoma-diagnosed cases that received a “cancer signal detected” test result.

Funding Information

This study received funding from PetDx.