Medical and veterinary medical researchers work together at UC Davis to fight cancer in animals and people. Their work is spotlighted in a new episode of the public television program "Quest," titled "Fido Fights Cancer," set to premiere at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, on KQED, Channel 9. (It also will air at the same time on KQED HD, Comcast Channel 709, or it can be viewed online at http://www.kqed.org/quest.)

The show will depict how researchers are training dogs to smell cancer in human patients' breath samples and why scientists are studying cancer in dogs to discover new treatments for people and dogs.

The following UC Davis faculty members in the School of Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine can discuss cancer in humans and animals. For more information or topics not listed here, contact Pat Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.

CANCER AND CANCER GENETICS IN ANIMALS AND PEOPLE -- Veterinary scientist Xinbin Chen can explain how sarcomas and lymphomas in dogs are very similar to human cancers. He can discuss the cell cycle and cancer genetics as well as comparative cancer research that he conducts in the Center for Companion Animal Health. Chen's research focuses on the biology of the tumor suppressor p53, especially the activity of p53 in gene regulation. Chen is a professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Veterinary Oncology Program, a collaboration of the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and the UC Davis Medical Center's Cancer Center. More information: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/CCAH/default.htm. Contact: Xinbin Chen, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 754-8404, xbchen@ucdavis.edu.

RADIATION THERAPY FOR CANCER -- Michael Kent, assistant professor of veterinary medicine, can answer questions about the use of radiation therapy to treat animals with different types of cancer. Kent is based in the School of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Companion Animal Health, which contains facilities and equipment large enough to treat a tumor in a horse yet accurate enough to safely treat a rabbit. Kent investigates the molecular mechanisms of resistance to radiation in dogs with melanoma, a form of cancer that is resistant to radiation therapy in both humans and dogs. His research explores how to overcome this resistance by examining the effects of irradiation on gene expression in cell lines of veterinary patients. He also has been working on better ways to treat osteosarcoma, a bone tumor. Contact: Michael S. Kent, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-9665, mskent@ucdavis.edu.

CANCER IN PETS -- Veterinary oncologist Katherine Skorupski can answer questions about the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets. She can discuss how surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy are used in veterinary medicine with a strong focus on quality of life and minimizing side effects of cancer treatment. She leads the clinical research program and can discuss the similarities between canine, feline and human cancers and how cancer trials in pets can benefit both pets and humans. Her research interests include drug resistance in lymphoma, canine histiocytic sarcoma, and feline oral squamous cell carcinoma. More information: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/CCAH/newsletter.cfm. Contact: Katherine Skorupski, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-9586, kskorups@ucdavis.edu.

DOGS AND BLOOD CANCERS -- Joseph Tuscano, associate professor of hematology and oncology with UC Davis Cancer Center, is a nationally recognized expert on blood cancers. He can address questions about the importance of dogs to his research on novel, immune-based therapies for treating leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma that are less toxic and have fewer side effects than current approaches. He is particularly interested in developing antibodies that target cancer at the molecular level. His collaborative research with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is bringing anti-cancer treatments first to dogs, which also speeds the process of bringing them to human clinical trials. "Dogs live in the same environments as people and get cancer just like people," said Tuscano. "Concentrating investigational efforts on dogs first gives them access to new treatments and provides valuable information quickly on the efficacy of those treatments. It's a win-win proposition for both species." Contact: Interviews with Tuscano can be arranged by calling Karen Finney, UC Davis Health System Public Affairs, (916) 734-9064, karen.finney@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.

NEW CANCER DRUGS FOR DOGS AND HUMANS -- Kit S. Lam, professor and chief of hematology and oncology with UC Davis Cancer Center, is an expert on combinatorial chemistry and cancer drug development. He is the principal investigator of a National Cancer Institute drug discovery project focused on human and canine lymphoma. He and his colleagues have developed chemical molecules that target receptors on the surface of human lymphoma cells, some of which have been found to bind to canine lymphoma cells. In collaboration with veterinary radiologists Allison Zwingenberger and Erik Wisner and veterinary medical oncologist Michael Kent, he is conducting imaging studies in dogs with lymphoma. Their goal is to develop novel radiotargeting agents that can treat both human and dog lymphoma. Kent and Lam also are developing new approaches, which should be translatable to human cancers, to improve the effectiveness and safety of chemotherapy for dogs with lymphoma. Contact: Kit S. Lam, Hematology and Oncology, (916) 734-8012, kit.lam@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from five professional schools: Education, Law, Management, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. The UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Medical Center are located on the Sacramento campus near downtown.