Hailstone Mastiffs

Osteosarcoma:  Eight to ten thousand cases of bone cancer, also known as osteosarcoma, are reported in dogs in the United States annually.  Osteosarcoma affects all dogs, but the occurrence is considerably higher in large and giant breeds, including our Mastiffs.  Genetics is suspected to play an important role in this disease.  The Broad Institute at MIT/Harvard have mapped the canine genome and have initiated a project to identify the genetic risk factors for osteosarcoma.  This study will lead to improvements in understanding the cause of bone cancer and ultimately lead to better treatment options. 

Here is a great article by Dr. Douglas Thamm of the Colorado State University Animal Cancer Center "Dispelling the Myths of Canine Cancer and Its Treatments"

Blood samples are needed from healthy mastiffs, especially those over 8 years old and mastiffs affected with bone cancer.  An AKC number and/or pedigree ia needed to participate.  If you can help, please either contact me at jzinnboyce@aol.com or visit www.broad.mit.edu/mammals/dog to obtain the forms and instructions to your veterinarian.

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple Love

It cannot shatter Hope

It cannot corrode Faith

It cannot destroy Peace

It cannot kill Friendship

It cannot suppress Memories

It Cannot silence Courage

It cannot invade the Soul

It cannot Steal Eternal Life

It cannot conquer the Spirit

~Author Unknown~

This is Hailstone's Sweet Liberty, one of my beautiful mastiffs diagnosed with osteosarcoma.  She is pictured here after palliative radiation, chemotherapy and surgery to bridge a pathologic fracture at the tumor site.  She was my hero, my courageous, spirited girl who will always be in my heart.    Libby  2/22/1998 ~ 4/26/2005-

Here are some links to wonderful organizations dedicated to fighting canine cancer and funding canine cancer research - National Canine Cancer Foundation, Inc.  Click on the picture below:

Cancer is the most common cause of disease related to death in dogs.  The lifetime risk for cancer in our mastiffs is similar to that  seen in people - approximately one of every two individuals will get cancer, and more than half of the affected dogs will die from their disease.  According to a Morris Animal Foundation survery in 1997, cancer is the number one killer of dogs at 47 percent and the number one concern of animal owners.  Most of us have been touched by cancer in someway, whether it be ourselves, a family member or a beloved pet.  We feel helpless and afraid just at the mention of the word.  There are many brilliant scientists working on curing cancer, but they need our help.  We CAN make a difference by providing them with the DNA that holds the answer to the cure and prevention of cancer.  PLEASE allow your mastiffs to participate by having their blood drawn and submitting the samples.  It is imperative that we reach our goals and have enough specimens submitted so that our breed is the next one to be studied. 

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.  Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.        ~Irving Townsend~