New Antibody Gives Fresh Hope For Dog Cancer Treatment

Scientists have developed a new cancer antibody that could go a long way towards helping dogs with malignant cancers.


Chimeric anti-PD-L 1 is a new antibody that has recently been developed to help treat dogs with malignant cancer. The number of dogs suffering from cancer is rising. This is mainly due to the fact that dogs are now living longer due to improvements in veterinary care. The older the dog, the more prone they are to cancer, and so cancer is a now a more common problem in dogs than it once was.


A malignant cancer, such as oral malignant cancer is a cancer that cannot be treated. Animals with malignant cancer don’t respond to chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgical treatments. However, this new antibody, developed by Japanese scientists, could help to induce immune responses and so help to fight cancerous tumor growth in dogs.


Related: The National Canine Cancer Foundation: Dedicated To Finding A Cure


The antibody was created by taking a rat antibody and substituting part of it with that of a dog. This helps the dog’s body to accept the antibody and reduces the risks of them having an allergic reaction to it.


Testing of this new anti-body is still in the early stages, but so far, the results are looking positive. In an initial study, nine dogs with malignant cancer were treated with the antibody every two weeks for a period of ten weeks. None of the dogs suffered any sort of allergic reaction to the antibody and two of the dogs showed significant tumor regression.


Related: Study: Canine Cancers Linked To Common Lawn Chemicals


Researchers are also hoping that due to the similarity between dogs and humans, this type of treatment could also be of benefit to human cancer patients in the future.


[Source: Science Daily]

Emily Hutchinson
Emily Hutchinson

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