Published: 24 Jan 2025 | Last Updated: 24 Jan 2025 09:21:59

New research from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), in collaboration with Utrecht University, is the first of its kind to report on the epidemiology of canine insulinoma. Findings reveal that Boxers, German Pointers, Flat Coated Retrievers and West Highland White Terriers are among the breeds at greatest risk of developing the condition. These discoveries help improve understanding and provide a stronger evidence base to assist vets in the diagnosis and management of insulinoma in dogs.

Insulinoma is the most common hormone-secreting tumour of the pancreas in dogs and humans. In both species, insulinomas release insulin in an uncontrolled fashion, leading to dangerously low blood glucose levels. The prognosis for insulinomas that have spread beyond the pancreas is poor. Despite this condition often being fatal, to date, there has been limited understanding of the driving factors behind it. Yet, the similarities between canine and human malignant insulinomas mean that further research on dogs could also provide further validation of canine insulinomas as research model for human malignant insulinomas.

Therefore, this study, led by Dr Floryne Buishand, Lecturer in Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery at the RVC, set out to investigate the prevalence and incidence risk as well as demographic risk factors for insulinoma diagnosis in dogs. Researchers used VetCompass electronic health records of 2,250,741 dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2019.

The study found an annual incidence of 0.003% for insulinoma in dogs. This is ten times higher than the reported annual incidence of human insulinoma.

The research is the first to identify individual dog breeds with a predisposition to insulinoma. These include Boxer, Flat Coated Retriever, German Pointer, West Highland White Terrier, Dogue de Bordeaux and Hungarian Vizsla which are 4.5 to 9.5 times as likely, and English Springer Spaniel which was 2.7 times more likely to develop insulinoma compared to crossbreeds. The study also identified an association between being a terrier breed in general and insulinoma diagnosis.

Other risk factors linked with increased chances for insulinoma diagnosis in dogs included:

• Being female neutered
• Aged 9 to 15 years old
• Having an adult average body weight of 20 to 30 kg
• Having a body weight above the average for the sex/breed
• Being a breed predisposed to parathyroid cancer, thyroid cancer or parathyroid and/or thyroid cancer.

These findings will aid veterinary practitioners in insulinoma recognition and contribute to further understanding of canine insulinoma genetics and tumourigenesis.

Dr Floryne Buishand, Lecturer in Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery at the RVC and final author of the paper, said:

“The findings of our study are important for both veterinary and human surgeons and scientists. Insulinoma in pet dogs has been validated as a spontaneous research model to study human malignant insulinoma, which was recently also acknowledged in the Neuroendocrine Tumour Models Meeting 2024 white paper, published in Endocrine Oncology, which I co-authored.

“In this study, for the first time, we demonstrated that the overall incidence of insulinoma in dogs is up to ten times higher compared to the incidence of insulinoma in humans with the incidence of malignant insulinomas in dogs up to 90 times higher compared to the incidence of malignant insulinoma in humans. This underpins the value of spontaneous canine insulinoma as a translational study model for human malignant insulinoma because canine insulinoma samples are more readily available for molecular studies, unlike human malignant insulinoma samples.”  

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC and co-author of the paper, said:

“Although a rare diagnosis in dogs at a population level, insulinoma carries huge welfare impacts for those individual dogs diagnosed and their owners. Owners of predisposed breeds such as Dogue de Bordeaux, German Pointer and Flat Coated Retriever and their veterinary surgeons now have the power of big data as an advanced warning system on the increased risk here and so hopefully achieve earlier diagnosis and better outcomes.”

Dr Kasper Kraai, veterinary primary care practitioner in the Netherlands and first author of the paper, said:

"Our study highlights the incredible opportunities of big data, such as retrieving insightful information about rare diseases. We hope our study may guide veterinarians to better recognise canine insulinoma and provide useful insights for further research of both human and canine insulinoma."

This research was supported at the RVC by an award from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and Agria Pet Insurance.

RVC Small Animal Referrals support canine insulinoma patients using a multidisciplinary approach often combining internal medicine, oncology, and soft tissue surgery skills to deliver holistic care plans. Please see https://www.rvc.ac.uk/small-animal-vet/specialist-referrals/clinical-services and https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/projects/toceranib-phosphate-therapy for more information.

Notes to Editors

Reference

Kraai et al., “Incidence and risk factors for insulinoma diagnosed in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK”, Scientific Reports (2025) 15:2463.

The full paper is available from Scientific Reports (2025) 15:2463 and can be accessed at: https://rdcu.be/d6Qwy

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-86782-6

For media enquiries, please contact:

• Jasmin De Vivo jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London. 
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with associated recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada. 
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. 
• The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. 
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.