Hi all!
We're Embark's science and vet team, and we're here to talk about something we've been working on for a while: our updated Mast Cell Tumor (MCT) risk score.
What's new: Our previous MCT risk assessment could only flag elevated risk, and only for dogs with certain breed backgrounds. Now every dog with a Breed + Health test gets a percentage risk score plus a designation — below-average, average, or elevated. These new results can be found under "Genetic Risk Scores" in your dog's health results.
Why this matters: Mast cell tumors are the most common malignant skin tumor in dogs. The good news? They're also one of the most treatable: more than 80% can be cured with surgery alone when caught early. The hard part has always been knowing which dogs to watch more closely. That's what this score is for.
How it works: Instead of looking at one gene, we built a polygenic risk score that combines signals from hundreds of genetic markers along with breed ancestry and sex to estimate your dog's individual inherited risk. To be clear, the risk score is not a diagnosis: it won't tell you your dog will get an MCT. But it tells you whether your dog's genetics puts them at higher, lower, or average risk compared to dogs generally, and that may change how you and your vet might approach monitoring.
What you can do with it: The single most important step — especially for dogs at elevated risk — is regular body checks. Run your hands over your dog, feel for new lumps, keep tabs on old ones. Your dog will think it's just really good petting. If you spot something new or changing, that's your cue to call the vet.
Here today: (proof)
- Kari Cueva, DVM, Associate Director of Veterinary Genetics
- Brett Ford, MS, Senior Scientist in Applied Science
- Taki Kawakami, PhD, Principal Scientist in Computational Biology
We'll be live from 12:30–3 PM ET and checking back tomorrow and Wednesday for anything we miss. No question too basic or too technical — ask us anything. We'll sign our answers so you know who's talking.
EDIT: Thanks all for the questions! We're signing off for today but we'll be checking back in over the next day or two -- so feel free to drop a question if you came late.
Update 4/16: Correcting something from earlier — the updated MCT Risk score is available for dogs tested from March 2026 onward, not for all dogs tested since the original May 2023 model launched. Dogs with scores under the original model will still see those results. Sorry for the mix-up, and we've edited the affected responses below.
