Validation of the Deep-sequencing Liquid Biopsy Platform for Healthy Cats

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is currently recruiting healthy felines that do not have any pre-existing chronic illness, such as cancer.

Enrollment Status: Enrolling

Inclusion Criteria: Any healthy cat that does not have any chronic health conditions. Must be a client of UFVH. See Cost section for details.

Study Procedures: In order to be eligible to enroll in the study, the patient has to have a documented medical history of being a healthy pet. Records may be requested from your primary veterinarian (if your primary veterinarian is not located at UFVH Gainesville). Once  the enrollee has been approved, a 5 ml blood sample (about one teaspoon) will be collected to be used for the purposes of this study. 

Cost: The study provides you with $75 as a financial incentive. This incentive is provided and can be applied to any existing UFVH client invoice*. 

*Please note: UFVH clients who hold a prior invoice for any pet, and/or a client who has a planned visit to the hospital where an invoice will be generated, can be enrolled. There are no additional expenses for participating in this study. The costs of any other clinical procedures are not covered by the research study. 

Background: New technology is being developed for less invasive cancer screening tests for pets. This technology, liquid biopsies, can detect tumor cells, DNA fragments, and other biomarkers in bodily fluids that may indicate cancer. The evidence for this technology in dogs is growing. However, little is known about this field for cats. Therefore, the goal of this study is to validate a liquid biopsy platform that uses deep-targeted sequencing for cats, both in health and in cancer. Specifically, we aim to quantify fragmented DNA in blood using our platform and generate genomic profiles from healthy cats. This can also provide novel insights into the development of targeted therapies for cats with cancer.

Contact: You can contact the Clinical Studies Team at 352-294-4389, by email: VM-ClinicalStudies@ufl.edu, or complete the to see if your cat qualifies (below).