Cancer is a genetic disease. The genomics revolution of the past two decades has provided detailed maps of the underpinnings of many human cancers through the generation of hundreds of thousands of cancer genome sequences. These data are increasingly leveraged to guide development of new clinical diagnostics, prognostics, and targeted treatments that are improving outcomes for human cancer patients. The genomics revolution has now also crossed into veterinary oncology, particularly in pet dogs, where nearly two thousand cancer genomes have been sequenced and published in the past five years alone. Although the path from mapping cancer genome landscapes to clinical translation is still under development, the oncoming flood of genomic data stands poised to transform veterinary oncology. We and others are charting the genomic landscapes of naturally occurring canine cancers in order to develop new clinical tools for veterinary oncology and to establish comparative settings in which clinical hypotheses can be rapidly tested across species. Here we will review cancer's genetic basis across species, summarize the history of and recent developments in naturally occurring canine cancer genomics, and discuss implications of these emerging data for development of new clinical tools in veterinary oncology including opportunities and challenges in leveraging these data.

Learning Objectives

• Understand cancer's complex genomic basis
• Understand the current state of canine cancer genetics
• Recognize the opportunities and challenges around applying canine cancer genomic research to clinical diagnostics