Curing brain cancer in a dog named "Petey"

A drug currently used to treat colon cancer in people successfully treated a type of brain tumor, called a glioma, in a dog named "Petey". After removing the tumor, Dr. Simon Platt administered the drug to the brain where it prevented the tumor from returning. The next step is to conduct a larger study that includes more dogs. If successful, the drug may be used in clinical studies of humans to treat glioblastomas, a similar form of brain cancer that affects roughly 13,000 people annually and for which there is currently no cure.

More like this

Anti-cancer vaccines seem to be a burgeoning field in immunology (for example, the HPV vaccine) and what's more, they seem to hold much promise. A recent clinical trial at UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center has tested a vaccine (vitespan, trademark Oncophage) to glioma, a tumor of glia cells in the…
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., and at any moment directly affects almost 4% of the population, or about 10.8 million Americans. A diagnosis of cancer can be one of the most frightening moments in someone's life, and yet most people understand little about the disease. I…
Do you remember dicholoroacetate (DCA)? In a letter dated 24 September (PDF here), Dr Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta announced that his group had received approval from Health Canada and U of A's institutional review board to begin a Phase II clinical trial of dichloroacetate (…
Dichloroacetate or DCA is a small molecule that has been in the press over the last four years due to its potential to inhibit aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells. The cells from each of us usually produce energy in the form of ATP from a variety of nutrient sources plus oxygen using a very…

This is interesting. Lost a good friend to glioblastoma a few years back. So if they can treat it now that's great!

I want to see more options for this disease than that quack Burzynski, so I await further news with baited breath.

By Bob Blaskiewicz (not verified) on 10 Aug 2013 #permalink

I think that this is an interesting concept and I would really like to know how this veterinarian came up with injecting a drug that was already being used for colon cancer into the region of the brain of a dog where he just removed a glioma. I'm also very excited to see where this discovery is heading, especially since Dr. Platt received funding from the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation to continue this study. If his study is successful then he not only will save the lives of other dogs but he will also get recognized by veterinarians across the world. Eventually, Dr. Platt could be using the results of this study to work with Neurologists and Neurosurgeons to perform a similar study on humans, like the news reported mentioned in the video. I know that this step is a long ways down the road, but this small success story could be a large step for curing brain tumors down the road.

By Shannon J. (not verified) on 08 Feb 2014 #permalink