Dog Update - Summer 2022 - 6

SUMMER 2022
" We found that Boxers with
lymphoma were almost six
times as likely to live within
10 miles of an active nuclear
plant and two times more
likely to live within 2 miles
of a chemical supplier or
active crematorium than
were unaffected Boxers. "
Lauren A. Trepanier, DVM, PhD, DACVIM,
DACVCP, the Melita Grunow Family Professor
in Companion Animal Health at the
University University of Wisconsin-Madison
between genetic and environmental
risk for lymphoma in the breed. This
led to her first AKC Canine Health
Foundation grant in 2017.
Regarding environmental risks, Dr.
Trepanier explains, " Canine lymphoma
resembles non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
in people and has been associated with
chemicals found in tobacco smoke,
certain household products, pesticides,
herbicides, fungicides, and vehicle
exhaust. NHL risk is also increased by
defective GST (glutathione-S-transferase)
enzymes, which are supposed to
break down toxic chemicals in the body.
" In our study in dogs, we looked at
whether defective GST genes along
with exposure to certain household
and yard chemicals were associated
with lymphoma in Boxers, " she says.
" Our hypothesis was that lymphoma
risk in Boxers would be increased by
low-activity GST gene variants along
6
with higher exposures to environmental
chemicals and that we would see a
breed-related increase in DNA damage
over time.
" While we did not see more defective
GST gene variants or higher accumulated
DNA damage in Boxers compared to
other breeds, we did find that Boxers
with lymphoma were almost six times
as likely to live within 10 miles of an
active nuclear plant and two times more
likely to live within 2 miles of a chemical
supplier or active crematorium than
were unaffected Boxers. "
An article published in February 2020
in the Journal of Veterinary Internal
Medicine highlighted the findings. " This
study did not tell us if exposure to
nuclear power plants or crematoriums
causes lymphoma in dogs, but we do
know that there's an association even
in breeds like Boxers that have a high
risk for this cancer, " she says. " Those

https://www.akcchf.org/research/research-portfolio/2318.html https://www.akcchf.org/research/research-portfolio/2318.html https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7517848/pdf/JVIM-34-2068.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7517848/pdf/JVIM-34-2068.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7517848/pdf/JVIM-34-2068.pdf

Dog Update - Summer 2022

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