Overview
- An international team led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Ontario Veterinary College and the University of Bern profiled paired tumor and healthy tissues from 493 pet cats across five countries, covering 13 cancer types.
- Targeted sequencing of roughly 1,000 human cancer‑associated genes identified dozens of drivers and mutational signatures in cats, with TP53 the most frequently mutated across tumors.
- In feline mammary carcinoma, FBXW7 was mutated in over half of tumors and PIK3CA in about 47 percent, reflecting patterns seen in aggressive human breast cancers.
- Laboratory tissue assays suggested certain chemotherapies were more effective against FBXW7‑mutant mammary tumors, a preliminary signal that requires in vivo validation and clinical trials.
- The cat oncogenome and analyses were publicly released to support research that leverages pets’ shared household exposures with people to investigate environmental risks and inform cross‑species therapeutics.