The mission of VCGP is to improve care for animals with cancer through standardization of tumor evaluation and reporting.
Standardize parameters used to assess tumors
- Create guidelines (e.g., mitotic count, margins, etc.) to create a standard method for assessing tumors
- Provide a forum for diagnostic pathologists, oncologists, surgeons and others to comment and suggest improvements to these parameters
Assist in the development and validation of tumor assessment
- Establish standard protocols for investigators to ensure tumor grading systems include comprehensive data sets for assessment of prognostic utility
- Encourage studies to replicate (reproduce) existing prognostic parameters (including grading systems) in new patient data sets and in multiple laboratories
- Develop new methodologies and compare new methods to standard methods (new patient data sets and implementation in multiple laboratories)
- Assess inter-observer variability in the assessment of tumor parameters
Develop a system of synoptic tumor reporting for potentially aggressive tumor
types
- Develop tools to enable pathologists to use synoptic reports
- Propose synoptic reports for specific tumor types
Provide an international educational resource for pathologists and
investigators
- Website, webinars, journal manuscripts, letters to editors
- Create a curated image bank for parameters described in protocols (e.g., MF, AMF, MLF, CPATH, LVI, Necrosis)
- Provide tutorials on parameter standardization (e.g. for mitotic figures and lymphovascular invasion)
- Create and distribute videos demonstrating proper techniques (e.g. for margin identification/inking)
- Provide quizzes for self-evaluation
Promote the use of Guidelines and Protocols by Journal editors and reviewers
as minimum acceptance criteria for published manuscripts
- Create checklists to ensure standard methods and terminology are used
- Require a pathologist review of pathology data derived from case records. Recommend a pathologist to co-author, if one is needed
Establish a veterinary cancer biobank
- Enhance resource sharing for validation studies
- Serve as a resource for assessment of new technologies and validation of existing parameters
- Serve as an international educational resource for diagnostic pathologists and investigators
Christof A. Bertram
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
![Pompei Bolfa](https://veterinary.rossu.edu/sites/g/files/krcnkv416/files/styles/atge_1_1_crop_md/public/2022-03/Pompei%20new.webp?itok=vZEIiP3t)
Pompei Bolfa
Ross University, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
![Emily M. Corbin](https://vcgp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Corbin-headshot-scaled.jpg)
Emily M. Corbin
Joint Pathology Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Michael J. Dark
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
![Taryn A. Donovan](https://www.amcny.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Taryn-Donovan.jpg)
Taryn A. Donovan
Animal Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
![Kristina Meichner](https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/04/Meichner-Image.png)
Kristina Meichner
College of Veterinary Medicine, GA, USA
![Donald J. Meuten](https://vcgp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/image.png)
Donald J. Meuten
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
![Frances M. Moore](https://www.heska.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Frances-Moore-scaled-e1607530640254-wpv_600x600_center_center.jpg)
Frances M. Moore
Heska Corporation, Loveland, CO, USA
![Bruce H. Williams](https://davisthompsonfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Bruce-Williams_About.png)
Bruce H. Williams
Joint Pathology Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA