Leveraging a Longitudinal Study in Pet Dogs to Model Non-Occupational Chemical Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph glands that can be fatal in people. Lymphoma has been linked to weed killers and certain chemicals (VOCs) in people who use these chemicals at work, but the risk from lower amounts of these chemicals found in the home is not understood. Pet dogs develop lymphoma at a higher rate and with a shorter timeline than people and share the same households as people. We propose that measuring exposures to weed killers and VOCs in dogs with lymphoma, compared to unaffected dogs, may uncover household chemical risks for lymphoma. We will use urine and blood samples collected over time from dogs through the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study and compare chemical levels and markers of DNA damage between dogs that have developed lymphoma versus those that have not. The overall goal of this study is to identify household chemical risks for lymphoma that could be targeted by prevention measures prior to a cancer diagnosis.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Lauren Trepanier, professor of medical sciences

 

CO-INVESTIGATORS

Anne Avery, professor of immunology at Colorado State University

Lauren Baker, assistant scientist at the UW–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine

Mark Berres, bioinformatician at the UW Bioinformatics Resource Center

Josh Hyman, core director of the UW Biotech Center – DNA Sequencing Facility

Julia Labadie, chief epidemiologist at the Morris Animal Foundation Golden Retriever Lifetime Study

James Schauer, director of Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and professor of civil and environmental engineering