Canine lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in dogs affecting approximately 70,000 dogs in the United States each year.

• Develops from lymphocytes, specific cells in the immune system that are found in lymph nodes, certain organs and can circulate through the blood. For this reason, it is considered a systemic disease.
• Can affect many different organs, with over half of the dogs presenting with lymphoma in the peripheral lymph nodes. Canine lymph nodes are located throughout the body. The nodes under the chin, in the front of the shoulders and behind the knees are the ones most easily felt. If canine lymphoma is in the lymph nodes or organs, diagnosis is usually made by needle biopsy or cytology.
• Can be B-Cell or T-Cell lymphoma, as is also true in people. Without treatment, the dog’s average lifespan is one to two months. With treatment, usually chemotherapeutic agents, 85% of dogs will go into remission.

One example of the power of comparative oncology trials to aid the development of new therapeutics is a drug called Selexinor. In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Selinexor (XPO-VIO, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Inc.) in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult human patients with multiple myeloma who had
received at least one prior therapy. This followed FDA approval in 2019 of accelerated approval for Selinexor in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMA) who received at least four prior therapies.

Preclinical studies of Verdinexor (KPT-335) were led by veterinary oncologist Cheryl London, DVM, PhD— then of the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine working with the Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science in 2014—to report real time data that informed optimal dosing and regimen in human clinical trials.

* The research noted in this article was not funded by Animal Cancer Foundation