Dear Colleagues,

With the close of the NIH fully funded prostatic carcinoma study this month, I want to thank everyone for making it such a huge success. Both animals and humans stand to benefit from this collaborative project, as many canine and human diseases show similar characteristics. Prostate carcinoma is one such disease.

Prostate carcinoma in both dogs and people share a common trait of overexpressing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors. From this study, our hope is that VEGF targeted-contrast ultrasound will allow for earlier diagnosis of prostate carcinoma. Initial study data is showing that this targeted-contrast ultrasound can be used to highlight specific regions of prostatic disease in dogs.

At our practice, we believe that translational medicine is the future. Our veterinary patients can benefit from cutting-edge diagnostics and medications, at little to no owner cost. And our families will benefit from the information gained through translational medicine.

We look forward to bringing you more partially or fully funded studies in the future to help your patients. And if you have an interesting case, give us a call—we might just have a funded study to enroll your patient in.

Sincerely,

Seth Wallack, DVM, DACVR