Lymphoma in Corgis- A contender for one of the breed's genetic diseases?

Of course, any cancer has underlying genetic components, but the environment plays a (sometimes significant) role in initiating cancer in an organism. I have seen SO MANY recent discussions about Corgis with lymphoma, and now my breeder has a dog that might have lymphoma, too, and she's greener-than-green, environmentally friendly, no-chemicals-ever, so the amount of environmental contributors are probably much lower than your average dog.

Is this something we've accidentally brought upon our breed? Because I may just be suffering from media-based bias, is there an AKC prevalence study on lymphoma across breeds?

I know quite a few of our members are struggling with lymphoma right now; do you all have anything to add about this possibility?

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Permalink Reply by Beth on December 3, 2013 at 3:07pm

Rachael, I have thought of that as well. On the other hand, according to what I read, lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in all dogs, and it may be that since Corgis are prone to so relatively few diseases, we are not losing dogs to many other causes and it may just seem that there are a bunch with lymphoma.

When Maddie had her first seizure, several members posted about epilepsy in their Corgis, and epilepsy is not common in Corgis.

It's also true that people tend to post when they have an issue they are dealing with; we have thousands of members but only a relative handful of regular posters. Once a dog gets sick, lurkers will post.

There is a possible link between 2,4-D and lymphoma in dogs. That is such a common weed killer that even if the owner does not use it, it's almost certain they will run into it routinely on walks. Weed-b-Gon has 2,4-D (or at least some formulations do) and that is the most common weed killer at big box stores.

Interesting question.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on December 3, 2013 at 3:08pm

http://www.wearethecure.org/lymphoma

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on December 4, 2013 at 12:49pm

I don't believe that it is breed specific at all. In my opinion, Modern medicine extends the life of a domestic animal tremendously.

cancer is very tricky, different types requires different treatment, there isn't a simple cure all. All of us have microscopic cancers growing in our bodies all the time. All it takes is 1 of 50 trillion cells in our bodies to make a mistake while dividing, then a potential cancer is born. Our immune system usually roots out and destroys microscopic cancers when they are spotted, but old age + environment can alter that.

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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on December 4, 2013 at 1:17pm

Yeah, my breeder's dog is Waffle's age, though; just four and a half! And some breeds are prone to certain cancers or cancer in general, so it's not an unreasonable possibility.