Dog cancer vaccine hints at human version

TUESDAY, Feb. 5, 2019 (HealthDay News) – An experimental bone cancer vaccine in dogs could provide a roadmap for a human version of the treatment, researchers said.

More than 10,000 dog bone cancer cases occur each year in the United States. But the disease is not common in humans, with only 800 to 900 cases per year. About half of these cases occur in children and adolescents.

The new vaccine is made from a dog's tumor and targets specific cancer cells, eliminating the need for chemotherapy, which can lead to toxic side effects, according to researchers at the University of Missouri. .

"A vaccine is made from the dog's tumor so the dog's immune system recognizes it," said Jeffrey Bryan, professor of oncology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He is also Director of the Laboratory of Radiobiology and Epigenetics in Comparative Oncology of the University.

The dogs that received the vaccine had a remission of more than 400 days, compared to about 270 days for dogs that received chemotherapy as part of a separate study conducted by the National Cancer Institute of the United States.

"The dogs did not receive any chemotherapy and only received immunotherapy after their surgery.It is the first time that dogs with osteosarcoma [bone cancer] have experienced prolonged survival without receiving chemotherapy, which is really exciting, "said Bryan in a press release issued by a university.

This treatment uses a dog's own lymphocytes, which "are immune cells that recognize where the pathogens are hiding in the body, and then kill the cells harboring these pathogens," Bryan said.

"After removing the tumor, we create a vaccine using the dog's tumor cells to stimulate anti-tumor lymphocytes," which are then transfused into the dog, he explained.

"These cells are activated and really angry at everything they are supposed to attack, and when they are reintroduced into the body, they have to identify and destroy the tumor cells." Ideally, this immune response would destroy every cell. tumor, "said Bryan.

However, animal studies do not always take place in humans.

The study was presented recently at the annual conference of the Veterinary Cancer Society in Louisville, Kentucky. This research is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The team plans to continue its research to complete clinical trials of the therapeutic vaccine to treat bone cancer and other types of cancer in humans.

More information

The US National Cancer Institute has more about bone cancer.