Of Mice and Men (and Dogs): Development of a Xenogeneic DNA Vaccine Program at the Animal Medical Center

摘要

Canine malignant melanoma (CMM) of the oral cavity, nail bed, foot pad and mucocutaneous junction is a spontaneously occurring, highly aggressive and frequently metastatic neoplasm. CMM is a relatively common diagnosis representing -4% of all canine tumors and it is the most common oral tumor in the dog. CMM and advanced human melanoma (HM) are diseases that are initially treated with aggressive local therapies including surgery and/or fractionated radiation therapy; however, systemic metastatic disease is a common sequela. Based on these similarities, CMM appears to be a good clinical model for evaluating new treatments for advanced HM.