Molecular evaluation of spontaneous oral melanoma tissues derived from dogs treated with gene therapy.

• Grant number: 23/09748-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Bryan Eric Strauss
• Grantee: Bianca Naomi Niitsuma
• Host Institution: Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo Octavio Frias de Oliveira (ICESP). Coordenadoria de Serviços de Saúde (CSS). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is increasingly better positioned to compete in the field of advanced therapies. In particular, five gene therapy products were registered by ANVISA, paving the way for new proposals of clinical evaluation. Our group has been investing in the development of an intervention for melanoma that uses improved adenoviral vectors to deliver two genes, p14ARF and interferon-², which cooperate in inducing immunogenic death and antitumor immune response, object of a recently approved patent. We have demonstrated the antitumor effects using murine, human and canine cell lines, but the in vivo evaluation is so far restricted to mouse models, known for their limited representation of the human clinical case. Considering that our approach is safe and has the potential to bring benefits to the patient, we are ready to take the next step in the translational development of our approach. We propose the application of our experimental intervention in spontaneous cases of oral melanoma in canine patients, because they are a model that better recapitulates the development of cancers in humans when compared to murine models. The first aim of this study is to verify the safety and practice of performing gene therapy in dogs with oral cavity melanoma. Our secondary objective would be the exploration of the impact of gene therapy on tumor progression, activation of antitumor immune response and antiviral response. With the success of this project, we will open the way for future translational trials under suitable conditions to support the proposal of a formal clinical study, either in humans or in dogs.