New publication focuses on SENSITEST® canine Lymphoma Blood Test

Oct. 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Avacta Animal Health’s SENSITEST^® canine Lymphoma Blood Test (cLBT) is the subject of an early view, open access paper published online by Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vco.12123/abstract) on the 15^th October. The paper, Utility of a multiple serum biomarker test to monitor remission status and relapse in dogs with lymphoma undergoing treatment with chemotherapy¹, discusses the results of a blinded retrospective study using the simple, relatively non-invasive cLBT to investigate remission and recurrence of lymphoma in dogs undergoing chemotherapy.

Lymphoma is one of the most common malignancies affecting dogs, accounting for around 20 % of all canine tumours and with an estimated annual incidence of 25 per 100,000 dogs. While lymphoma responds well to chemotherapy, the relapse rate is, unfortunately, very high, requiring close monitoring during and after therapy. Until now, monitoring for disease recurrence has been achieved by palpation of peripheral lymph nodes, which occur when relapse is well underway. The paper reports a study of 57 dogs suffering from lymphoma, comparing assessment by palpation and cytology with the cLBT, a novel biomarker-based assay using serum biochemical tests for haptoglobin and C-reactive protein. The cLBT compared well with the veterinarians’ assessment, differentiating between dogs in remission and those with recurring disease up to eight weeks prior to the appearance of swollen lymph nodes. This significantly early detection of lymphoma relapse enables veterinarians to plan for implementation of re-induction or rescue therapy to return the dog to remission The prognostic potential of cLBT scores was also highlighted, which should aid scheduling of future treatment. This confirms the suitability of SENSITEST cLBT as a cost-effective aid to assist monitoring of lymphoma status in dogs undergoing chemotherapy.

¹ I. Alexandrakis, R. Tuli, S. C. Ractliffe, S. W. Tappin, R. D. Foale, A. Roos and K. J. Slater. Utility of a multiple serum biomarker test to monitor remission status and relapse in dogs with lymphoma undergoing treatment with chemotherapy. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology. Article first published online: 15 OCT 2014 | DOI: 10.1111/vco.12123.

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