Evaluation of the antitumor response of different drugs in cultures of canine oral melanoma cells as a preclinical model for the dog

• Grant number: 23/03022-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Fonseca Alves
• Grantee: Júlia Pereira Gonçalves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The oral cavity of dogs is the fourth most common site of neoplasms in these animals, withmalignant melanoma being an aggressive, highly metastatic tumor, with an unfavorableprognosis in most cases. The etiology of oral melanoma is discussed and is not fully understood,however, genetic predisposition and infection bacteria in the oral cavity are implicated in itsetiology. Oral cavity melanoma in dogs is an aggressive growth tumor whose therapy requiresdirection. Thus, this proposal aims to select antineoplastic drugs with previous studiesdemonstrating their efficacy for canine neoplasms and safe toxicity for dogs. The aim is toevaluate the antitumor effect of these drugs in cells of in vitro metastatic and non-metastaticcanine oral melanoma. Thus, we intend to perform a chemotherapy screening and identify thedrugs with the greatest potential for clinical application. As they will be drugs with toxicity anddose already established for the dog, this study has an immediate translational potential, beingable to indicate more specific therapies for the dog affected by oral melanoma. Despite theimportance of canine oral melanoma, no previous study in the literature performed thisassessment.