Comparative Oncology

This textbook provides a profound overview on comparative oncology covering both the background of the discipline and its underlying principles. It also shows how comparative oncology can be utilized to advance human research. Illustrated by numerous images the book vastly covers current knowledge about comparative aspects of different tumor types such as mammary, prostate or bladder carcinoma. An emphasis is placed on companion animals, but information on other animal models is also included.

In recent years, comparative oncology has become a major topic in human and veterinary medicine. This book now provides a unique and comprehensive look at the field, offering in-depth knowledge to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, as well as researchers working in both fields. Clinicians will particularly appreciate the insights on diagnostics and treatment strategies.

Michael W. Nolan is a veterinary radiation oncologist who practices at North Carolina State University. His research focuses on understanding mechanisms of cancer treatment-induced pain, as well as interactions between cancer and the nervous system; the lab utilizes traditional benchtop and rodent research approaches, as well as comparative canine and feline oncology clinical studies, with a goal of informing development of novel therapies that provide the dual benefits of improving patient comfort and prognosis.

Damon R. Reed is a team scientist and a clinical investigator in pediatric and adolescent/young adult sarcomas working with the Children’s Oncology Group.  He is working to better incorporate evolutionary principles into study and correlative science design to better understand and anticipate cancer resistance towards improving outcomes in sarcomas. 

Ryan D. Roberts is a physician for the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a principal investigator for the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a member of the Translational Therapeutics research program at The James Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University. He also works with the Children’s Oncology Group.

Audrey Ruple is a companion animal cancer epidemiologist. Her primary research interest lies in “One Health,” the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health. Her diverse and extensive experiences lend themselves to her One Health research in both comparative/translational medicine and infectious diseases that occur at the human-animal interface. Her comparative medicine research is primarily focused on the companion dog as a model for health and disease in human populations.

Laura E. Selmic is a veterinary surgical oncologist who works in an integrated oncology team at the Ohio State University. Her research has been focused on intraoperative optical imaging of surgical margins to improve outcomes following cancer surgery in dogs and cats and utilizing study of these comparative species to initiate human clinical trials.  She has written over 150 peer reviewed publications.

Heather Wilson-Robles holds an endowed chair in comparative oncology. Dr. Robles' research is targeting tumor initiating cells while exploiting common druggable pathways between canine and human cancers, and clinical research using dogs as a model for human pediatric cancer. She has received over $8.1 million in funding and has written over 40 peer reviewed publications, 21 book chapters and authored 40 scientific oral abstracts at national meetings.