Autologous cancer vaccines: treating canine cancer

Authors: Weir C
Publication: Proceedings of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Annual Conferences, Volume 2014 AVA Annual Conference, Perth, Issue Industry, May 2014
Publisher: Australian Veterinary Association

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Abstract: Cancer is the one of the major killers of ‘man’s best friend’ with up to 27% of purebred dogs in the UK dying of Malignancy (1). This increases to 45% in dogs over 10 years of age (1). There is an urgent need for better treatments for canine cancer. With strong parallels between canine malignancies and human disease in terms of spontaneous development and frequency, dogs provide a potential resource to trial new treatments. In preclinical work we developed an autologous cancer vaccine technology. Using a rat model of glioma we demonstrated up to 60% remission and extended survival benefit for the other 40% of the animals treated with vaccine. While this laboratory model was useful for the initial evaluation of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine approach, dogs provide a clinically relevant scenario in both presentation and time to progression. Therefore, in February 2011 we began a safety trial in canine cancer patients using an autologous cancer vaccine technology developed at the Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory (BWL). This safety trial is still ongoing.

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