Inbreeding and canine mammary cancer: a retrospective study

Using files of the Animal Neoplasm Registry (ANR) in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California, we conducted a retrospective study to compare the degree of inbreeding in the ancestry of purebred dogs with mammary and other cancers, and of those without tumors. Wright's coefficients of inbreeding, calculated for all animals in the three groups, ranged from 0.000 to 0.535. The median inbreeding coefficients of the mammary cancer and comparison groups (consisting of other cancers) were approximately twice that of the nonneoplastic group, but neither difference was statistically significant. Dogs with mammary adenocarcinoma and mixed mammary cancer had similar degrees of inbreeding.