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Canine hemangiosarcoma (HSA) is a common, aggressive malignancy for which new tests and treatments are urgently needed. Recently, next generation sequencing technologies have enabled more detailed genomic characterization of HSA, and are enabling less invasive methods of disease monitoring through detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood biopsies. Leveraging available datasets, this presentation will examine our current knowledge of the genomic landscape of HSA and place it in the comparative context of human angiosarcoma and other cancers. We find similarities in the common simple somatic mutations and copy number aberrations between HSA and human angiosarcoma. As our understanding of the genomic landscape of canine HSA evolves, we will be positioned to define how these mutations occur in each species in the context of clinical factors such as primary site and disease progression.

To enable precision medicine through more accessible genomic characterization of patient tumors, and to provide clinicians with the tools to monitor disease burden and tumor evolution over the course of treatment, our group and others have been working to develop canine blood biopsy, a non-invasive method for measuring and sequencing cell-free tumor DNA present in the bloodstream. The current state of the art in canine blood biopsy will be highlighted, with emphasis on its application to HSA and efforts to optimize clinical sample collection. Topics discussed will include concordance between tumor and matched ctDNA, use of blood biopsy for longitudinal patient monitoring, and future applications of blood biopsy for minimal residual disease tracking, identification of emergent resistance mutations, and as a diagnostic.