RE: Cancer and OTHER Studies
At 07:07 PM 6/12/2003 -0700, Lisa Ebnet wrote: I suggest if you own a berner and want to be part of this study that you request a kit NOW from either Pat Long or Heidi Parker. This is a great idea but one thing to watch is the expiration date on the test tubes. The kit Pat sent me had expired but I was able to obtain the same tubes from the lab at the local hospital. Evidently they are not that commonly used but luckily the main lab had them. I noticed the solution in the tubes Pat sent had a deeper yellow/brown tint to it than I recalled being in the tubes I had used to submit my old guy in the control group. The expiration date was only about 2-3 months before the time I obtained the tubes from Pat so it had colored quickly. Pat is aware of this and making sure kits she sends have not expired but keeping them for several years in case could exceed the expiration date. I saved these expired tubes so if I need to draw blood again - hopefully I never will except for control groups - I have the exact solution I need. They use 10ml yellow tops with ACD Solution A. This is important as it preserves the blood in a manner making it useable for the study. Other solutions may not preserve the blood in the same manner. Since the kit had not arrived when I had to draw the blood, I called Pat and asked her for the solution name and then called the hospital and explained what I was doing and why. The lab was VERY helpful and prepared a box with 4 tubes (I needed 2), butterfly needles, alcohol swabs, gloves, and extras of everything and did not charge me for any of it. Good thing I had extras as finding a vein at such a late date was very difficult. We drew blood at 1am as we did not think she would make it through the night. A friend who is a nurse came to the house and took the blood so if Bianca did pass before morning, we had what we needed for the study. The emergency vet did not have the right tubes and they would have charged for the service. But Lisa is correct in being prepared and at least having the information you need if not the tubes themselves. But they do expire so please make sure the tubes you have or plan to use are still current. Molly and the gang Remembering Bianca - 4/29/95-1/14/03
Cancer and OTHER Studies
I changed the subject line to include *OTHER* studies, as well. What about any other studies that are not specifically for cancer, like tracing DNA? I think there have been references to several in the last couple of digests, and I'd like to help if my young, healthy (knock on wood) guys can be used. My heart weeps every time I read about the loss of a beloved Berner, and if we can help we'd love to. Vicky Whitney in Bozeman, Montana 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 _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
Re: Cancer and OTHER Studies
Vicky, In addition to the histiocytosis research at Fred Hutchinson and Dana Farber, there are a number of other studies that I can summarize here. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has been working for a number of years to map the canine genome, they have been working in concert with a number of other research facilities around the world. They had been collecting samples of unrelated dogs from as many different breeds as possible, I don't know if they still need samples from Berners or not. I suspect they have enough, but I'll have to check. Berner-Garde is sponsoring a study by Dr. George Padgett to determine if hemangiosarcoma has a hereditary basis in Bernese Mountain Dogs. I believe we will hear that it is. There is a study supported by the BMDCA on lymphoma and osteosarcoma. It's being done by Dr. Jaime Modiano in Denver, Colorado, at the AMC Cancer Research Center. VetGen has been working on hip dysplasia for a number of years, they are always interested in getting samples from dogs that are members of families with more than two affected Berners. Epilepsy is being studied at the U of Missouri-Columbia and the U of Minnesota. They are studying the genetic basis for epilepsy in all breeds, and they are also interested in samples. Dr. Paige Carmichael, DVM, at the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine, is working on developing a carrier test for Hepatocerebellar Degeneration. Sandy Novocin is collecting information about symptoms that we see in Bernese that seem to suffer from something similar to Multiple Schlerosis in humans. She wants to provide information to a neurologist that is interested in learning more about this problem. These are just a very small group of all the studies that are being done, you can always take a look at www.bmdca.org under Health for contact information and details on how to participate. For information about what other studies are being done, take a look at http://www.akcchf.org/ under Research. It's a long list! And those are only the ones being sponsored by the Canine Health Foundation. I know I didn't answer your question quite the way you had hoped, but I did want to be thorough! Pat Long ( Luther) Berwyn PA Check any e-mail over the Web for free at MailBreeze (http://www.mailbreeze.com)
Re: Cancer and OTHER Studies
There is one school - somewhere in the east but I cannot remember the name, where they are mapping the canine genome. However they are using boxers. Evidently there is an even smaller gene pool in boxers than in BMDs and certain breeders have such records of their lines that they were able to contact 40 owners and achieve their study group in a matter of weeks. The variations in these lines is so small that they feel they can determine the genome much as it was done in humans. Once they are able to map it, then they should be able to transfer the information to other breeds. One thing I found interesting in visiting the lab in Seattle was that Heidi Parker told me that in several cases where dogs suffer from the same ailment as humans, diabetes for example, that when they have located the genetic marker on the human DNA, within months they are able to locate the genetic marker in the dogs. Usually it is in a position close to that on the human DNA. Therefore, by identifying markers in humans, it can be transferred to animals and vice versa. They are hoping to do this with various forms of cancer as well as other diseases. Molly et al Charlottesville, VA I changed the subject line to include *OTHER* studies, as well. What about any other studies that are not specifically for cancer, like tracing DNA?
RE: Cancer and OTHER Studies
I suggest if you own a berner and want to be part of this study that you request a kit NOW from either Pat Long or Heidi Parker. I have had the unfortunate occasion to have two dogs diagnosed and after several failed attempts to obtain the necessary kit and instructions the dog died before we could get what was necessary. The other part of it was that the family had gone through the decision to help and give what was necessary for the study but alas it was too late. That was over a month of trying! Pat finally came to the rescue and sent me three kits to have on hand. Now if the unfortunate occurs I can overnight the kit to the attending vet. So be prepared for the worst and have a kit available... Lisa Ebnet and the Furry Berner Crew in Ferndale, WA USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.bernese.com
