Aosta Valley animal cancer registry: A collaborative initiative for monitoring cancer burden in animals

Abstract Background Animal cancer registry data are important for monitoring animal health, for prevention and research in veterinary medicine, and for comparative oncology. Since people and animals share the same environment and are exposed to many common risk factors, cancer patterns in animals may have a sentinel function for human health. We collected cancer cases among livestock, pets and wildlife in the Aosta Valley region in Italy from January 2004 to May 2024 to assess the feasibility of a regional animal cancer registry. Methods The clinical variables of every case were recorded and submitted to quality assessment. The tumour frequencies in the three animal populations were analysed. Results During the study period, we identified 106 farm animals (8%), 1154 pets (91%) and eight wild animals (1%) with tumours. The most frequent cancer sites in livestock were liver (10 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, 20.8%) and eye (eight cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 16.7%). Cancers of the skin (56 cases in dogs, 11.76%; 61 cases in cats, 23%) and mammary gland (94 cases in dogs, 19.7%) were most frequent in pets. The skin was the most frequent site in wild animals (two of eight cases). Limitations Critical issues concerned the collection of incident cases in livestock and wildlife and the completeness of denominators in pets. Conclusions This study demonstrated the feasibility of a registry based on an innovative model of collaboration between epidemiologists and veterinarians.