Despite steadily improving methods for its diagnosis and treatment, cancer still represents one of the most frequent causes of death in humans. What is less well known is that this also holds true for pets such as dogs. Each year, an estimated 4,000 dogs in Austria develop cancer and about half the dogs over 10 years old die because they develop a carcinoma that is biologically similar to a human tumour.
CEA is one of the most important markers for tumours. It is found in high concentrations in cancer patients and is thought to have a signalling function in tumour cells, which it effects via a specific receptor molecule, the CEA receptor. Jenson-Jarolim's work now shows that CEA itself is constructed extremely differently in dogs and humans: the antigen represents a particularly heterogeneous and complex system of different families of molecules. In contrast, however, the CEA receptor is essentially identical in the two species. The scientists explain the finding by proposing that the CEA receptor is a very old molecule in evolutionary terms and that because of its biological importance it has remained practically unchanged in the two species.
Subsequent work will address the nature of the molecules that bind to the receptor in human breast cancer or in cancer of the milk glands in dogs. The hope is that the knowledge can be exploited for new therapeutic approaches. Jensen-Jarolim is excited by the prospect. "Because dogs have shorter life-spans than humans, similar processes place on a shorter time-scale. This means that research in dogs gives faster results. By means of comparative research on the two species – so-called comparative medicine – it might be possible to develop a new generation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures much, much faster. And these may be applicable both to humans and to animals."
Prof. Erika Jensen-Jarolim is head of the Institute for Pathophysiology & Allergy Research (IPA) at the MedUni Wien.
About the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
The University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna is the only academic and research institution in Austria that focuses on the veterinary sciences. About 1000 employees and 2300 students work on the campus in the north of Vienna, which also houses the animal hospital and various spin-off-companies. The Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology is part of the new Department for Integrative Biology and Evolution; its research focuses on the needs and behaviour of wild animals in their natural contexts.
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Publication in "PLOS Currents":
The Article Phylogenetic discordance of human and canine carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA, CEACAM) families, but striking identity of the CEA receptors will impact comparative oncology studies by Marlene Weichselbaumer, Michael Willmann, Martin Reifinger, Josef Singer, Erika Bajna, Yuriy Sobanov, Diana Mechtcherikova, Edgar Selzer, Johann G. Thalhammer, Robert Kammerer and Erika Jensen-Jarolim was published in PLoS Currents: Tree of Life in March 2011: PMC3059814.
The paper in full text online: http://knol.google.com/k/marlene-weichselbaumer/phylogenetic-discordance-of-human-and/1glqeci8ut3qh/8#
Contacts:
Mag. Johannes Angerer
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit & Sponsoring
Medizinische Universität Wien
Tel.: +431401601 501
E-Mail: pr@meduniwien.ac.at
Johann Solar
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit & Sponsoring
Medizinische Universität Wien
Tel.: +4314016011505
E-Mail: pr@meduniwien.ac.at
Released by:
Klaus Wassermann
E klaus.wassermann@vetmeduni.ac.at
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