In addition to collecting data on our own patients, Veterinary Cancer Care, P.C.’s staff continually monitors new developments in cancer research. Being informed of the most recent progress of veterinary cancer and innovative methods of treating and managing the disease is of tremendous benefit to our clients. The field of cancer care in pets has grown immensely over the last two decades, and in recent years the specialty has published significant literature based on controlled and randomized therapeutic trials.

Intralesional Chemotherapy Clinical Trial

Intralesional chemotherapy is a clinical trial; results are yet to be published. Tumors most commonly treated are: Osteosarcoma, oral melanoma and other oral tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, vaccine sarcomas, mast cell tumor, and squamous cell tumors. This procedure is used palliatively to control pain, to prevent or delay recurrence of tumor, or to decrease the size of a tumor that has not been surgically removed. Intralesional chemotherapy is also referred to as intratumoral or local chemotherapy. Intralesional chemotherapy is the administration of cancer fighting drugs directly into the tumor, tumor site or adjacent tissues. The goal is to improve local tumor control by achieving high local chemotherapeutic drug concentrations while maintaining low plasma concentrations.

Intralesional chemotherapy is being used extensively at Veterinary Cancer Care, P.C..  Although this treatment has been successful, it still remains investigational. Advantages compared to surgery or radiation are ease of administration, low risk of side effects, low cost and that subsequent treatments can be administered in the future if there is recurrence.

Zoledronate for Osteosarcoma Clinical Trial

Osteosarcomas (OSA) of the appendicular skeleton in canines are the most common form of bone tumors.  Bisphosphonates inhibit bone resorption, without inhibiting the process of bone mineralization, and may prevent or delay metastatic disease.  Zoledronate is a bisphosphonate that has been shown to decrease malignant skeletal destruction, severity of bone pain, and frequency of pathologic fracture.  At Veterinary Cancer Care, P.C. we have a partially funded clinical trial to test the effectiveness of zoledronate in dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma.  The goals of this study include showing that zoledronate is safe, decreases bone decomposition, provides pain management, and delays metastatic disease.  Our study dogs will be treated every twenty-one to thirty days for as long as they are responsive to the drug.

For currently published studies on zoledronate see:

de Lorimier, L.P., and Fan, T.M. 2008. Bone Metabolic Effects of Single-Dose Zoledronate in Healthy Dog. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 19(6), 924-927.

Fan, T.M, de Lorimier, L.P., and Lacoste, H.I. 2008. The Bone Biologic Effects of Zoledronate in Healthy Dogs and Dogs with Malignant Osteolysis. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 22, 380-387.

Canine Melanoma Vaccine

Veterinary Cancer Care is proud to have the Canine Melanoma Vaccine for all stages of K9 melanoma that have local tumor control.  Because this vaccine has been granted conditional licensure, it will only be distributed to board certified veterinary oncologists.  The treatment involves one injection every other week for the first four injections.  Then boosters at 6 months intervals for life.  Canine Melanoma Vaccine is produced with a human gene of tyrosinase inserted into a small ring of DNA.  When used in conjunction with surgery and/or radiation therapy to treat the local tumor cells, this type of vaccine has been shown to extend the survival time for dogs with advanced stages of melanoma from 5 months to 389 days. 

Antiangiogenic Therapy

Angiogenesis is the development of new capillaries from preexisting blood vessels—a necessary step for tumors to establish themselves and grow. This process involves many complicated steps, but anti-angiogenic therapies have the potential to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors by inhibiting this process. Other possible anti-angiogenic therapies include vascular targeting, which potentially could prevent endothelial tumor cells from developing drug resistance and thus improving the success of anti-cancer drugs. Other potential methods on the horizon include the use of matrix metalloproteinsases (MMPs) that potentially inhibit the formation of blood cells that lead to tumor growth.

Kinavet Clinical Trial

Veterinary Cancer Care, P.C. is proud to announce a multi-institutional partially funded clinical trial to test the efficacy of Kinavet (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) on canine hemangiosarcoma.  Dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma, post-splenectomy, are qualified to participate.  Treatment is randomized and will be one of three different treatments.

NSAID Therapy

While the mechanism of NSAIDs’ anti-tumor action is not completely understood at this point, aspirin, Indomethacin and Piroxicam are showing promise in the treatment of several cancers in pets.

Genetics

We are collaborating with the Breen-Modiano labs at North Carolina University and the University of Minnesota to help find the genetic cause of certain types of cancer.  The goals of this study are to identify changes to genes that occur when a dog is affected by cancer and to identify a genetic predisposition to these types of cancer.  We are collecting blood and tissue samples from purebred dogs with osteosarcoma, lymphoma, or hemangiosarcoma.

For more information about clinical trials and the fight against cancer, please visit the Veterinary Cancer Society website.

K-9 Immunity