# Clinical, molecular, and immune characterization of naturally occurring osteosarcoma in dogs

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2024 · $558,072

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Naturally occurring osteosarcoma in dogs has been proposed as a promising translational platform to serve as
an intermediary between mouse studies and human clinical trials because it develops in the presence of a fully
intact immune system and demonstrates a similar clinical progression to the human disease. Furthermore,
canine osteosarcoma is a naturally occurring, heterogenous disease that recapitulates the spectrum of
histopathologic, immunologic, and genomic complexity of the disease in humans. However, despite the promise
of the dog model, the true translational potential of this model remains unproven and important species
differences in overall outcomes exist that are often not accounted for in the traditional design of translationally
focused dog trials. To optimize the design and translational impact of canine osteosarcoma trials moving
forward, this proposal seeks to establish the breadth and range of natural outcomes for this disease together
with deep characterization of the tumor microenvironment and immune landscape. To attain these objectives,
we propose the following two aims, 1) Determine natural disease progression and outcomes in a
contemporaneous prospectively enrolled population of dogs treated surgically for naturally occurring
osteosarcoma, and 2) Inform optimal design and establish biologically based outcome assessments for
translational canine osteosarcoma studies. This work will enroll client-owned dogs with naturally occurring
osteosarcoma through the NCI Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium (COTC), a well-established trials
network of veterinary academic institutions. In addition to primary clinical outcome measures for dogs treated
with surgery alone, deep characterization of the tumor microenvironment and immune landscape will allow us to
better understand the impacts of inherent biology and chemotherapy resistance, define the role of the immune
system in the natural progression of disease, and to compare molecular and immune signatures between pre-
existing human and canine osteosarcoma datasets. Hence, this canine trial paired with correlative bio-marker
studies are aimed to expand and improve the utility of the canine osteosarcoma model by ensuring that future
dog trials can be optimally designed to provide reliable information for the benefit of human patients with
chemotherapy resistant osteosarcoma.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890166
- **Project number:** 5U01CA281905-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert B Rebhun
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $558,072
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890166, Clinical, molecular, and immune characterization of naturally occurring osteosarcoma in dogs (5U01CA281905-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890166. Licensed CC0.

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