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SUMMARY:Developing stochastic models to explain the prevalence and distrib
 ution of a transmissible cancer - Olivier Restif\, Department of Veterinar
 y Medicine
DTSTART:20180130T130000Z
DTEND:20180130T140000Z
UID:TALK100744@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Vivien Gruar
DESCRIPTION:"Co-supervisors: Dr Liz Murchison (epm27@cam.ac.uk) and Máire
  Lawlor (ml28@sanger.ac.uk)\, https://www.tcg.vet.cam.ac.uk/\n \nThe canin
 e transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is a transmissible cancer that affe
 cts dogs. This disease\, which manifests as genital tumours\, is transmitt
 ed between animals by the transfer of living cancer cells\, usually during
  mating. CTVT originally arose as a cancer in a single individual dog that
  lived several thousand years ago. Rather than dying together with this or
 iginal host\, CTVT survived by transmitting its cells to other hosts as a 
 foreign graft. Today\, CTVT affects dogs around the world\, and is the old
 est and most prolific cancer known in nature.\n\nCTVT persists at low clin
 ical prevalence (~1 – 5%) in dog populations in most countries. However\
 , the transmission dynamics that underlie this observation are not underst
 ood. Limited data on the natural clinical course of disease suggest long-t
 erm persistence in affected hosts and occasional immune-mediated tumour re
 gression. \n\nThe goal of the project will be to develop and analyse mathe
 matical models representing alternative hypotheses for the transmission dy
 namics of CTVT within dog populations. Using probability theory and comput
 er simulations\, the student will analyse the behaviour of stochastic mode
 ls to determine conditions that allow the long-term persistence of CTVT at
  low prevalence. In particular\, we will consider the effects of different
  sources of heterogeneity among dogs (i.e. dog genetic heterogeneity\, tum
 our heterogeneity)\, and the impact of chemotherapy treatment. The student
  will have the opportunity to work with epidemiological data and be part o
 f an exciting collaboration between biologists and mathematicians.\n\nOver
 all\, this project promises to broaden our understanding of the interactio
 n between CTVT and its host\, both at the individual level and across popu
 lations. This has implications for improving our knowledge of the infectio
 us disease dynamics of this common canine pathogen\, but also\, importantl
 y\, may provide frameworks for understanding how CTVT may interact with th
 e host immune system. The mechanisms whereby transmissible cancers interac
 t with their hosts are of broad interest\, both in veterinary and human on
 cology.\n\n\nSuggested reading\n1.        Murchison EP\, Wedge DC et al 20
 14 Transmissible dog cancer genome reveals the origin and history of an an
 cient cell lineage. Science. 343:437-40\n\n2.        Strakova A\, Ní Leat
 hlobhair M et al\, 2016 Mitochondrial genetic diversity\, selection and re
 combination in a canine transmissible cancer. eLife. 5\, e14552. \n\n3.   
      Restif O\, DTS Hayman\, JRC Pulliam et al. 2012. Model-guided fieldwo
 rk: practical guidelines for multi-disciplinary research on wildlife ecolo
 gical and epidemiological dynamics. Ecology Letters 15:1083-94.\n"\n
LOCATION:MR3 Centre for Mathematical Sciences
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