OncoK9^® Training: Blood Collection

OncoK9 is recommended as an annual screening test for all dogs starting at 7 years of age and starting at younger ages for dogs belonging to breeds in which cancer tends to develop earlier in life. The Cancer SAFE tool can be used to determine the age at which it may be appropriate to begin annual cancer screening for your patient based on breed or weight. Click here to visit the Cancer SAFE tool. Please see the Product Insert for a list of contraindications and other important information.

The clinical performance characteristics of the OncoK9 test were established in a very large clinical validation study of over 1,000 dogs, with and without a diagnosis of cancer, and published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE in April 2022 as the CANDiD (CANcer Detection in Dogs) study. The CANDiD study demonstrated the test's ability to detect 30 types of cancer in dogs, with overall sensitivity and specificity mirroring the performance of multi-cancer early detection tests recently developed for cancer screening in human patients.

In three of the most aggressive cancers in dogs (hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma & osteosarcoma), test sensitivity was 85% overall. Among eight of the most common cancers in dogs (anal gland adenocarcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma, malignant melanoma, mammary gland, mast cell tumor, osteosarcoma & soft tissue sarcoma), test sensitivity was 62% overall. Across all cancer types in the CANDiD study, test sensitivity was 55%. In a large cohort of presumably cancer-free dogs in the CANDiD study, test specificity was 98.5%, corresponding to a low 1.5% false positive rate.

OncoK9 is a multi-cancer early detection test, designed to detect multiple classes of genomic alterations associated with a wide variety of cancers. This means that with just a blood sample, we can look for a cancer signal originating from many different types of cancer including lymphoma, osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, histiocytic sarcoma, mammary gland carcinoma, malignant melanoma, mast cell tumors, soft tissue sarcoma and anal sac adenocarcinoma. In the clinical validation study, OncoK9 detected 30 different cancer types.

OncoK9 detects cancer-associated genomic alterations in a sample. If these are found, a Cancer Signal Detected report is issued. Samples in which no cancer-associated genomic alterations are identified are reported as Cancer Signal Not Detected. The test does not provide a definitive cancer diagnosis, and it should never be used as the sole basis for making important decisions such as treatment or euthanasia. A full clinical evaluation should be performed to establish a definitive diagnosis of cancer. Similarly, this test does not provide information about a patient's genetic risk for developing cancer or other clinical conditions in the future. The results only indicate the detection or non-detection of cancer signal in the patient's blood at the time of the blood draw.

In addition to a Cancer Signal Detected or Cancer Signal Not Detected result, a Cancer Signal Origin Prediction can be provided for approximately half of hematologic malignancy (lymphoma and leukemia) cases.

We are always optimizing the laboratory process and our current turnaround time is 7-12 calendar days from the day the sample is received at the laboratory to the time a test report is issued. Occasionally, the laboratory may determine that a sample requires additional processing or reanalysis, and these exceptions will add to the sample turnaround time.

No, your patient does not have to be fasted in order to have a sample drawn for OncoK9.

For a list of contraindications to running OncoK9 along with other important information, please visit the Product Insert.