1. If your BMD is over 10 years of age and has never been diagnosed with MH : a blood sample is useful to us as a control (it is essential that you contact us if your dog is later diagnosed with MH).
2. If your BMD presents MH signs: a blood sample from your dog and relatives is needed

1) 5 ml of blood in EDTA (lilac top) tubes (name, breed, sex, written on the tube)
2) Pedigree information of each dog (the AKC number for US dogs)
3) A note from the vet indicating the clinical status of the dog

If MH is suspected, it is necessary to have pathology done to establish whether it is definitely affected and to provide the pathology reports.

All information will be kept confidential. We thank you very much for your help.

Please send blood samples at room temperature by rapid delivery mail.
If your BMD is affected by MH, please contact us for tissue samples.

From Europe, send to:
Dr. Catherine ANDRE and Benoit HEDAN
UMR6061,     CNRS/ Université de Rennes 1     Faculté de Médecine
2, Av. Léon Bernard     35043 Rennes cedex,     France
Tel. 02 23 23 45 09         Fax 02 23 23 44 78
Email : catherine.andre@univ-rennes1.fr      benoit.hedan@univ-rennes1.fr
http://www-recomgen.univ-rennes1.fr/doggy.html

From the US:
Dr. Elaine Ostrander : contact : eostrand@mail.nih.gov
Phone: + 00 1 301-594-5284         Fax: + 00 1 301-480-0472
Cancer Genetics Branch NHGRI/NIH     50 South Drive, MSC 8000
Building 50, Room 5351     Bethesda MD 20892-8000     USA
http://research.nhgri.nih.gov/dog_genome

If your BMD is affected by MH: fresh or –20°C frozen tissues samples or a biopsy sample (in the paraffin block) are needed: please contact Matthew or Tessa Breen.
Indeed, those of you who have lost Berners in the past may still be able to help here.

Dr. Matthew Breen : contact : CVM_K9Genomics@ncsu.edu
Phone : + 00 1 919-513-1466         Fax : + 00 1 919-513-7301
Dept. of Molecular Biomedical Sciences     College of Veterinary Medicine
North Carolina State University     4700 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27606     USA
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/mbs/breen_matthew.htm

If your BMD is affected by malignant histiocytosis, fresh samples of histiocytic sarcoma is needed for Dr. Cheryl London’s study for developing effective therapeutics for affected dogs. In order to complete this task, it is necessary for them to receive tumor tissue which has been appropriately preserved so that the RNA can be extracted. (Note – all samples must be taken from an animal either at the time of surgery or immediately post-euthanasia.) Therefore, it will be necessary for us to send you in advance an RNA stabilizing agent (RNA Later) prior to sample collection, as well as tubes for collection of samples. If you think that you may be able to provide tissue for this project, please contact Dr. Cheryl London at the following address:

London.20@osu.edu

They desperately need fresh samples for this project, and greatly appreciate each contribution.