Purdue researcher's efforts aimed at early detection of canine cancer

WEST LAFAYETTE − A Purdue researcher has been working the last three years on a promising early detection and treatment measure for cancer in dogs.

Deborah Knapp, Purdue Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology, has spent the last 30 years of her career studying bladder cancer in dogs.

However, specifically for the past three years, Knapp and her team have studied a group of 120 Scottish terriers, a breed that is 20 times more likely to develop bladder cancer than other dog breeds.

Every six months, the dogs were given urinary tract ultrasound exams and urinalyses. When any suspicions of cancer arose from the tests, Knapp's team performed cystoscopic biopsies.

According to Purdue, of those 120 Scottish terriers, 32 showed to have the early stages of bladder cancer. The screenings by Knapp and her team allowed the cancer to be caught early, before symptoms emerged or the dogs' health/behavior changed.