However, the sample set was of limited size and the thirteen dogs for whom definitive confirmation of ‘MCT metastatic disease status’ was achievable did not include dogs homozygous for the SNP rs850678541 alternative (variant) allele, a significant exclusion given that the ten-fold reduction in the level of DSCAM protein expression was only observed in MCTs and skin biopsies from dogs which are homozygous for the SNP rs850678541 alternative allele. Here, DSCAM is linked to metastatic neoplasm.