I just returned from a Melanoma Tumor Board Meeting in
Washington, DC and I do not remember being more excited by the outcome of a
conference. There were close to 50 people in attendance ranging from medical
oncologists to molecular biologists to geneticists to veterinary medical and
radiation oncologists to pathologists-both veterinary and human. This group of
people represented the “best of the best” in terms of melanoma researchers and
clinicians.
This conference, supported by the Animal Cancer Foundation,
will result in the publication of a “white paper” describing a consensus
statement espousing the value of canine oral malignant melanomas as a model for
certain types of melanomas in people. People from both sides of the “human and
veterinary aisle” passionately and eloquently described the need for developing
this model.
