No one is immune.

President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush’s dog Barney, a twelve-year-old Scottish Terrier, died this week of lymphoma. Lymphoma is one of the most common diseases veterinary oncologists diagnose and treat in dogs and cats.  In many practices, almost 50% of the cancers treated are lymphoma. Canine lymphoma is virtually identical to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in people in terms of biological behavior, as well as molecular and genetic changes.  What we learn about better diagnostics and treatments in dogs that have lymphoma can help people and the new effective therapies yet to be discovered for lymphoma in people may help our pets.

Treatment for lymphoma typically involves chemotherapy, as lymphoma is really a systemic disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Many pet owners assume chemotherapy causes severe side-effects such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and weight loss; however,  most pets treated with chemotherapy do not respond this way.   Veterinary oncologists working alongside pet owners have made a conscious decision to modify chemotherapy protocols to lessen and eliminate reactions, maximizing both quality of life as well as survival time.  Because pets live compressed lifespans, the veterinary professional and the owner consistently evaluate the quality of life of a pet to determine if continuing treatment is the best option.

The death of Barney from cancer reminds us that no dog, no cat, no person is immune from the reach of this devastating disease. Our hearts go out to President and Mrs. Bush, not because of who they are, but because they have lost a beloved member of their family, their pet, to cancer.
For more information about lymphoma in dogs, go to http://www.vcchope.com/resource-center/typesofcancer.

For more information about the similarities between human and pet cancers go to http://www.acfoundation.org.

 

Dr. Gerald Post

“What is it again that you do exactly?”

Even my closest friends and family frequently ask me, “What is it again that you do exactly?”.. I am now a full-time Clinical Trial Coordinator at The Veterinary Cancer Center. As I mentioned in my previous blog, this job allows me to help patients receive cutting edge treatment (sometimes for free) while at the same time helping to further research for animals and humans with cancer!

 Before I can explain my role, I’ll need to give you a little background on where these clinical trials come from, for the most part. We work very closely with Animal Clinical Investigations (ACI), a veterinary CRO (Contract Research Organization) based in Washington, DC. They give us the opportunity to offer our clients some wonderful treatment options. According to ACI’s website, “As a pet owner, participating in a clinical trial provides you with an opportunity to help your pet when conventional treatment options are either not effective or not accessible. Your participation may provide immediate benefit for your pet and will provide more effective treatments in the future for other pets with serious diseases…” The VCC is proud to be an ACI-designated clinical trial partner “Center of Excellence” and I couldn’t be happier working with these two companies! Everyone wants to feel like they are truly “making a difference”. Fortunately for me, not a day goes by where I don’t whole-heartedly believe that the work we are doing through clinical trials is making a difference. We are making a difference in individual families and in the future of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment for animals and people. More to come about the specifics of day to day clinical trials at The VCC in my next blog… stay tuned.

 

Maria Salas, Clinical Trials Coordinator

Animal Cancer Foundation and Melanoma

I recently returned from a Melanoma Tumor Board Meeting in Washington, DC and I do not remember being more excited by the outcome of a conference. There were close to 50 people in attendance ranging from medical oncologists to molecular biologists to geneticists to veterinary medical and radiation oncologists to pathologists-both veterinary and human. This group of people represented the “best of the best” in terms of melanoma researchers and clinicians.

This conference, supported by the Animal Cancer Foundation, will result in the publication of a “white paper” describing a consensus statement espousing the value of canine oral malignant melanomas as a model for certain types of melanomas in people. People from both sides of the “human and veterinary aisle” passionately and eloquently described the need for developing this model.

The organizers of this conference have done what no one has been able to do for 20 years—effectively guide such a diverse group of cancer researchers to reach a consensus statement.  They have truly allowed me to see a dream of mine move towards fruition. Since starting the Animal Cancer Foundation in 1999, I have hoped to galvanize the cancer community in this manner. It is such a wonderful feeling to be excited about the direction of cancer research.

Dr. Gerald Post