For dogs diagnosed with bone cancer, the prognosis is grim.
The usual treatment is amputation of the affected limb, followed by chemotherapy. However, the cancer has by then probably spread to the lungs. Survival rates post-treatment are only about one year.
But there is good news – a new gene therapy provides some hope.
Andrew Wyeth print from Dogstuff
Brandy, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador, was diagnosed with bone cancer. Her right rear leg was amputated and she received chemotherapy, but x-rays showed the cancer in her lungs.
Robyn Elmslie, DVM, veterinary oncologist, and her husband, Steven Dow, DVM, Ph.D., an immunologist at the National Jewish Medical Research Center in Denver, have been developing a gene therapy to treat cancer.
Interleukin 2, a gene involved in the immune response, is combined with a fatty acid and delivered intravenously to the dog. In Brandy’s case, the results were dramatic. After almost a year of gene therapy, the tumors in her lungs have shrunk to a very small size.
Magnet from Dogstuff
Elmslie says that more pet owners are willing to go to extremes to provide care for their pets. The goal, though, is not extending life, but quality of life.
“Whether it be treatment for heart disease, kidney disease or cancer, if the end result is a better quality of life then it is a reasonable treatment.”
Brandy’s owners say she is doing well. She has some difficulty climbing stairs, but otherwise is not much limited by the loss of her leg. “As long as she’s able to have a good quality of life, we feel we should try to give her that, just as we would if she were one of our kids.”
