We Are The Cure Blog | Canine Cancer Information

Lymphoma in dogs is one of the most common cancers. While between 80 and 90% of dogs will achieve a complete remission, with conventional chemotherapy protocols the median time to loss of first remission is between 8 and 10 months with median overall survivals ranging between 12 and 14 months. Only about 5% of dogs will be alive at two years. The last major breakthrough for the treatment of canine lymphoma was the addition of doxorubicin to combination chemotherapy protocols around 30 years ago. New therapies to break through this ceiling are desperately needed.

We have recently begun enrolling dogs with relapsed lymphoma in a new clinical trial to evaluate a new type of chemotherapy treatment. We are evaluating response and toxicity. Working closely with the human medical school we have developed a nanoparticle targeting agent. This molecule targets dog lymphoma cells and brings conventional chemotherapy agents to the cancer cells. This has the potential of making therapy for lymphoma both more effective and less toxic.

This work is funded by a grant from the National Canine Cancer Foundation. At the conclusion of the trial we will make more information on this exciting new treatment available on the website

I received a donation today like we do everyday.  This one came with a story and a picture like many do.  But this one seem to get to me.  It made me cry.  I did not cry because of the words but because of the what the words said and how the picture looked.

The donor proceeded to talk about Mia and how see went through her battle with Cancer getting steroids and chemo treatments and how she lost her battle with Cancer on February 28 of this year.  I get many emails just like this and everyone is very personal to me and I feel and understand their sorrow since I have lost three of my dogs in the past three years to Cancer.

Then the donor said that they were enclosing a picture of Mia waiting at the Vet for her Cancer treatment just two weeks before she died.  And that picture was what got me.  Look at her, how happy she is, so excited to visit her friends at the Vet. Two weeks later she was gone.  I must do more, we must do more.  The research is there, the technology is there, we just need to be there with our support.

Mia at the Vet

In 2004, the mapping of the dog genome was completed.  This effort was a collaboration of many individuals at many institutions and was funded by the National Institutes of Health. This was done at a cost of over $30 Million. Why did they do this?  Because they recognized that cures for cancer in people may come through studying and learning to treat this disease in dogs

There are several reasons that many cancer researchers believe this.  First, dogs like humans develop cancer spontaneously.  This is not the case in mice and rats in which the majority of cancer research happens now. Treating a mouse with a tumor that was injected into it is a lot easier to cure than a person with cancer. By learning how to treat a dog’s cancer, which has all the complexities of a human cancer, we are likely to come up with treatments that can also be used on people. Also, since dogs age faster than humans and they develop cancer at a younger age than people, cancer trials can be done faster and less expensively in dogs.

While the dog genome is about the same size as the human genome, there is less diversity in it, coming from many generations of breeding for specific traits and breeds.  This makes it easier to find the genes responsible for specific diseases, including many forms of cancer.

So in helping fund canine Cancer research you are also helping fight Cancer in people. For more information on the mapping of the genome of the dog go to http://www.genome.gov/12511476

modiano-interview.mp3

Dr. Michael Kent was awarded a research grant for a exciting new treatment for Canine Lymphoma. We discussed this research on the show.4_25_2008_drkent.mp3

Depending on what statistics you read, there are anywhere from 25 to 45 million dogs owners in the US.  Many people have more than one dog which is why those same statistics say there are anywhere from 45 to 65 million dogs in the US.

Being part of a non profit organization that funds canine Cancer research, stats like that get me both excited and frustrated.  I wish I could cosmically speak into every one of these dog owners and tell them to send $10 per year to help fund canine Cancer research.  With 25 to 45 million dog owners that would be $250 to $450 million dollars toward canine Cancer research each year.

If we received funds like that we would have a cure for canine Cancer.  Now, before you say that it would be better used to fund human Cancer research, let me share a few things with you. (more…)