Two Years of Liquid Biopsy Testing in Dogs

Presentation Description / Summary: Blood-based liquid biopsy testing for cancer detection and monitoring in dogs became clinically available in May 2021. Since that time, this testing has been ordered for thousands of dogs in a variety of settings – from use as a screening tool for high-risk dogs with no suspicion of cancer, to an aid-in-diagnosis for dogs in which cancer is a differential diagnosis, to the post-diagnosis setting for detection of residual disease and recurrence monitoring following surgery or treatment. The widespread use of this testing has afforded unique opportunities to profile the genomes of large numbers of dogs, opening the door to novel discoveries about the canine genome. This session will review the evolution and state of the science of liquid biopsy testing, including how the test is being applied in real-world veterinary and specialty clinics, the discovery of incidental findings in the genomes of older dogs, and possible future directions for this technology. The presentation will conclude with a series of interesting case studies from clinics across the country.