Introduction

Intestinal dysbiosis is an alteration in the composition and/or richness of the intestinal microbiota. An association between dysbiosis has been hypothesized with cancer pathogenesis, progression, and response to therapy. The objective of this study was to determine if canine patients diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma have intestinal dysbiosis, using a qPCR-based dysbiosis index (DI). Determining whether patients with hemangiosarcoma have intestinal dysbiosis is the first step towards understanding whether or not intestinal dysbiosis plays a role in disease development and progression.

Methods

Patients with benign or malignant causes of hemoabdomen secondary to presumed splenic tumor rupture underwent dysbiosis index analysis at the time of splenectomy. A Simon-two-stage design will be used to explore the hypothesized association between dysbiosis and hemangiosarcoma in dogs. In addition, next generation sequencing approaches are under evaluation as an alternative analysis of dysbiosis.

Results

Our preliminary but ongoing analysis suggests a potential association between dysbiosis and a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma in dogs with splenic tumor rupture. 1/7 dogs with non-neoplastic causes of hemoabdomen had abnormal dysbiosis index. In dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma 3/10 had an abnormal dysbiosis index. Additional results will continue to be accumulated, analyzed, and reported.

Conclusion

Preliminary data suggests an association between intestinal dysbiosis and canine hemangiosarcoma. Additional dogs with benign and malignant splenic tumors are under analysis. If there is an association between hemangiosarcoma and dysbiosis we expect future questions regarding the role of dysbiosis on patient prognosis, disease progression, and therapy.

Funding Information

Funding through Ethos Discovery