I'd be more than willing to have my two participate in whatever studies can use them. But as they're both young (3 1/2 and 23 months), I was under the impression from earlier posts that they could not be part of any current study.
Would someone please explain exactly what dogs these studies are looking for, i.e. ages, health history, etc?
Hi Vicky,
The study at Fred Hutchinson wants dogs over the age of 10 who have not been diagnosed with malignant histio to participate in the CONTROL group. Your two are too young for this category.
As for affected, and I hope your never qualify for this group, they ask that if histio is expected at the time of death, that the blood be drawn prior to death, a necropsy will then provide a definite answer as to the cause of death and confirm if it is histio. Some have sent blood to Seattle at the time of death to have a different cause confirmed. Those dogs have been excluded from the study. But it is better to err on the side of collecting and sending than not to participate and learn the dog did die from histio. If histio can be confirmed prior to the dog's death, then draw the blood immediately and send it to the study along with the other information they request - pedigree and additional health information. This is usually in the form of a biopsy of the affected tissue - tumor, bone marrow, etc. As histio is such a fast killer, the time to make this decision is often limited. My girl was diagnosed on a Friday, we drew blood Monday not thinking she would make it through the night, and she passed to Rainbow Bridge Tuesday afternoon.
Molly and the gang Missing Bianca - 4/29/95-1/14/03 - a victim of this horrible cancer
