New insights into shared molecular and genomic features between humans and dogs with OS

Amy LeBlanc, DVM, a board-certified veterinary oncologist, Senior Scientist, and the Director of the intramural NCI’s Comparative Oncology Program, will review canine osteosarcoma and the clinical, biologic, and molecular features that make it a relevant animal-patient model for humans. She will share new data from the NCI's Comparative Oncology Program regarding MYC, and its value as a predictive biomarker for the disease in canine patients.Dr. Amy LeBlanc is a board-certified veterinary oncologist, Senior Scientist, and the Director of the intramural NCI’s Comparative Oncology Program. In this position, she conducts preclinical mouse and translational pet dog studies that are designed to inform the drug and imaging agent development path for human cancer patients, specifically those with osteosarcoma. She directly oversees the NCI Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium (COTC), which provides the infrastructure necessary to connect participating veterinary academic institutions with stakeholders in drug development to execute fit-for-purpose comparative clinical trials in novel therapeutics and imaging agents. Her program provides support to several extramural NCI-funded initiatives, including the Integrated Canine Data Commons and Cancer Moonshot-funded canine immunotherapeutic clinical trials conducted under the PRECINCT network.