Revolutionary Canine Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Results: A Ray of Hope for Man's Best Friend

For dogs that develop cancer, there are not many options, and when our canine companions get sick, it often leads to heartache. Having lost a 10 year old German Shepherd Dog, Max, to cancer back in 2011, this is something that I know well. Not only is it an emotionally painful experience for the dog's owner, but it causes suffering for the animal, too. Roughly 25% of dogs get cancer, and according to the Canine Cancer Alliance, cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs. So, we can see why a breakthrough in cancer treatment could be important for pets and pet owners.

For decades, veterinarians have relied on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation when dogs developed tumors, but results are not always great. According to Yale's veterinary oncologist, Gerry Post, the toolbox that is available for treating dogs is much smaller than the one for humans.

Since 2016, researchers have been running clinical trials of an immunotherapy, Canine EGFR/HER2 Peptide Cancer Immunotherapeutic, and this treatment may soon improve the odds for dogs with cancer.

For example, Hunter - the dog in this video - received treatment for osteosarcoma, and he is cancer free two years later. Without a treatment like this, only 30% of dogs survive for 12 months after an osteosarcoma diagnosis. Yale researcher, Mark Mamula notes in the video that he lost his own dog to an inoperable tumor.

Roughly 300 dogs have received this treatment, and for the targeted cancers the team claims that the treatment boosts the 12-month survival rate from about 35% to about 60%, nearly doubling the dog's chances.

The treatment emerged out of research into autoimmune diseases (Mamula's web site indicates that he also works on Lupus and other aspects of autoimmunity). Although it's called a vaccine, right now it is only used after a cancer diagnosis. According to the team's 2021 study, it may eventually be used alone or in combination with other treatments. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the animal's own cells. This treatment promotes a similar response, but aims to coax the immune system into attacking the tumor cells.

Other researchers are also pursuing additional canine immunotherapy treatments for lung cancer, Melanoma, and other types of cancer. Additionally, since cancer can be similar in dogs and humans, these lines of research may also help to inform cancer treatments for humans.

Overall, this treatment sounds very promising to me, but the article doesn't say anything about cost. Having been a pet owner for several decades, I know that unaffordable treatment is basically the same as no available treatment (specialist veterinarians are crazy-expensive). Also, I'm always a little skeptical of new results like this, when the researcher may have a financial incentive in reporting that clinical trials were successful. So, my general impression here is one of guarded optimism. I hope that the treatment lives up to its apparent potential.

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Thank you for your time and attention.

As a general rule, I up-vote comments that demonstrate "proof of reading".

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Steve Palmer is an IT professional with three decades of professional experience in data communications and information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in computer science, and a master's degree in information systems and technology management. He has been awarded 3 US patents.

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^{Pixabay license, source}

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