Golden retrievers are one of the most popular breeds of dogs, but they also have a high risk of developing cancer.
According to research, they have up to a 65% chance of dying from cancer. However, a new study by UC Davis researchers has found a gene that could help them live longer and potentially prevent or slow down the progression of cancer.
The gene is called HER4, and it belongs to a family of proteins that are known to be involved in human cancers.
The gene associated with longevity in golden retrievers
(Photo : JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
The researchers compared the DNA from blood samples of more than 300 golden retrievers who were alive at 14 years of age to those who died before age 12.
They found that dogs with certain variants of the gene survived longer, on average 13.5 years compared to 11.6 years.
This means that the gene could increase the lifespan of golden retrievers by about 15-20%, which is equivalent to 12-14 years in humans.
The gene is in the same family of genes as HER2, a gene that is well-known for making cancer cells grow quickly in humans.
However, the researchers found that the variants of HER4 that were associated with longevity in golden retrievers did not affect the expression of HER2 or other related genes.
This suggests that HER4 may have a different role in dogs than in humans and that it may act as a protective factor against cancer or other age-related diseases.
The co-corresponding author of the study, Robert Rebhun, who is also the Maxine Adler Endowed Chair in oncology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, explained that they assumed that most golden retrievers had a genetic predisposition to cancer, but some of them lived longer than expected.
He said that they thought there could be another genetic factor that was helping to mitigate the bad genes, and that they identified HER4 as the gene that could do that.
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The implications for human health and cancer research
The discovery of the gene associated with longevity in golden retrievers could have important implications for human health and cancer research.
Since dogs get many of the same kinds of cancers as humans, they could serve as valuable models for studying the genetic and environmental factors that influence cancer development and progression.
Rebhun also said that if they found that this variant in HER4 was important either in the formation or progression of cancer in golden retrievers, or if it could modify cancer risk in this cancer-predisposed population, that could be useful for future cancer studies in humans.
The co-corresponding author of the study, Danika Bannasch, who is also the Maxine Adler Endowed Chair in genetics with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, expressed her hope that their findings could help improve the health and well-being of golden retrievers and other dog breeds.
She said that everyone would want their beloved pets to live longer and that two years in goldens was a significant increase in lifespan, which was comparable to 12-14 years in humans.
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