HEALTH - Over 11 Million Raised for Pet Cancer Research and Treatment

Since their campaign began eight years ago, Petco Foundation and Blue Buffalo Foundation have raised over $11 million for pet cancer research and treatment.

They are continuing their fundraising initiative through May - Pet Cancer Awareness Month - encouraging pet lovers to join them in the fight against pet cancer by donating in Petco stores or online, and sharing knowledge about the early warning signs of pet cancer.

This year's goal is to provide more than $2 million in additional grants to support pet cancer treatment and research initiatives.

"With approximately 6 million dogs and nearly the same number of cats impacted by cancer each year, we continue to make it a priority to invest in solutions to fight pet cancer, the number one disease-related cause of pet death," said Susanne Kogut, executive director of the Petco Foundation.

"After losing my own dog to cancer just last month, this fight against pet cancer has really hit home. One pet family battling canine or feline cancer is too many – and we are inspired by the new treatment options our funds have helped support."

Recent investments include $1 million dedicated to helping families in need cover the cost of cancer treatment, including funds at seven university oncology departments as well as $1 million for pet cancer studies like the groundbreaking research being conducted to combat osteosarcoma in dogs.

Additional funding has been put toward innovative comparative oncology work like that at Canines-N-Kids, an organization committed to finding a cure for the devastating cancers that impact kids and man's best friend.

"Blue Buffalo and the Blue Buffalo Foundation have been committed to finding a cure for pet cancer since our inception," said David Petrie, President of Blue Buffalo Foundation.

"We are excited about collaborative efforts, together with Petco and the Petco Foundation, to raise funds for research, increase awareness of cancer warning signs and help pet parents with the cost of pet cancer treatment."

Donations can be made until May 28th in any amount during checkout in a Petco store, or by donating online.

HEALTH - FDA Targets Illegal Cancer Treatment Claims

It is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to market and sell products that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat, mitigate or cure diseases without first demonstrating to the FDA that they are safe and effective for their labeled uses.

This week the FDA sent warning letters to 14 US-based companies illegally selling more than 65 products that fraudulently claim to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure cancer.

The products are being marketed for human and/or pet use and mainly sold through websites and social media.

“Consumers should not use these or similar unproven products because they may be unsafe and could prevent a person from seeking an appropriate and potentially life-saving cancer diagnosis or treatment,” said Douglas W. Stearn, director of the Office of Enforcement and Import Operations in the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs.

The illegally sold products cited in the warning letters include a variety of product types, such as pills, topical creams, ointments, oils, drops, syrups, teas and diagnostics (such as thermography devices).

The products make illegal, unproven claims regarding preventing, reversing or curing cancer; killing/inhibiting cancer cells or tumors; or other similar anti-cancer claims.

Companies receiving the warning letters are:

• AIE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
• Amazing Sour Sop Inc.
• BioStar Technology International, LLC
• Caudill Seed & Warehouse Inc.
• DoctorVicks.com
• Everything Herbs
• Hawk Doc Natural Salve, LLC
• Healing Within Products & Services Inc.
• LifeVantage Corporation
• Nature’s Treasure Inc.
• Oxygen Health Services, LLC
• Sunstone Inc.
• The Vibrant Health Store, LLC dba Dr. Christopher’s Herbs
• The Vitamin C Foundation

It is important to consult with a veterinarian or physician before using any products for health care treatment.

The FDA encourages health care professionals and consumers to report adverse reactions associated with these or similar products to the agency’s MedWatch program.

HEALTH - Canine Cancer Drug Taken Off the Market

Oasmia Pharmaceutical AB has taken a canine cancer drug, Paccal Vet, or paclitaxel for injection, off the market to study lowering the dose to reduce adverse effects.

Paccal Vet had been conditionally approved by the FDA for the treatment of:

• Non-resectable stage III, IV or V mammary carcinoma in dogs that have not received previous chemotherapy, or radiotherapy.
• Resectable and non-resectable squamous cell carcinoma in dogs that have not received previous chemotherapy, or radiotherapy.

To receive a conditional approval from the FDA, a drug company must prove, among other things, that the animal drug is safe and has a “reasonable expectation of effectiveness” when used according to the label for the proposed conditionally-approved use.

Conditional approval allows the drug company to legally market the animal drug for up to five years.

During this period, the company develops and submits to the FDA the necessary data to prove that the drug meets the “substantial evidence” standard of effectiveness for full approval.

Paccal Vet-CA1 had been available to a limited number of oncology specialists and veterinarians are now being told to stop using the drug.

Oasmia anticipates that lowering the dose to reduce side effects and improve comfort for companion animals will make the product far more attractive to veterinarians and pet owners.

Paclitaxel has been used in the treatment of people with breast, lung, prostate and other cancers.

HEALTH - Elephant Protein Destroys Cancer Cells

Utah researchers say a protein discovered in elephants appears to attack and destroy cancer cells found in humans.

(Dr. Schiffman, by August Miller)

Dr. Joshua Schiffman, Medical Director of the High Risk Pediatric Cancer Clinic at Huntsman Cancer Institute, hypothesized several years ago the reason elephants rarely get cancer is because they have more, and slightly different, p53 protein than other mammals.

Elephants have 40 copies of p53 and almost no cancer, whereas humans only have 2 copies with 50% lifetime risk for cancer.

His team began working with elephant blood, but researchers have since developed a synthetic form of p53 and are injecting that into human cancer cells in petri dishes.

"What we've found is that the cancer cells are all dying very quickly when they're exposed to this elephant cancer protein," Schiffman told KSL.com.

It is quickly destroying the cells in the seven cancers, including lung, breast and bone, they have tested it on so far.

Schiffman is now working with Avi Schroeder, an assistant chemical engineering professor at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, to manufacture the protein in nanoparticles to begin preclinical testing.

Nanoparticles will enable them to deliver the protein directly to the tumour site.

His team is already developing a test for mice and hope to test it on pet dogs with cancer as well.

Human testing will follow, something Schiffman hopes will occur within three years.

While this is not a cure for cancer, the early results are promising and researchers say it’s working better than they imagined.

Watching the p53 destroy cancer cells for the first time was "probably one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever had as my career in medicine," Schiffman said.

The Hunstman Institute will need to raise millions of dollars to complete the animal and then human trials.

HEALTH - First FDA Approved Drug for Dogs With Lymphoma

VetDC, a veterinary cancer therapeutics company, has completed the final steps towards U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM) approval for Tanovea™.

Tanovea™ (rabacfosadine for injection) is a novel small molecule drug designed to preferentially target and attack cancer cells implicated in lymphoma, one of the most common cancers seen in companion animals.

In multiple clinical studies in over 300 client-owned dogs with naturally occurring lymphoma, Tanovea has consistently demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity in both naïve and relapsed cases, with a generally well-tolerated safety profile.

Tanovea would be an every-three-week treatment (via intravenous) for up to five doses.

This represents a substantial reduction in client visits relative to non-approved, ‘human’ generic multi-agent chemotherapy regimens commonly utilized in dogs with lymphoma.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for VetDC, as we are now in the home stretch toward introducing the first FDA-approved drug for use in dogs with lymphoma, one of the most common cancers affecting pets today,” Steven Roy, VetDC’s President and CEO, said in a release.

A decision is anticipated within 60 days and upon FDA approval, VetDC intends to begin commercialization in early 2017.

HEALTH - World's Largest Study of Canine Cancer

One in four dogs will develop cancer and it is the leading cause of death in dogs over age 10, according to bark.com.

The Veterinary Pet Insurance Company says recent statistics show it was the top killer of dogs, levelling both an emotional and financial cost among owners.

Depressing statistics, for sure, but pet-owners can take comfort in knowing there are numerous treatments available from surgery to chemotherapy for their beloved canine, should it be diagnosed with the disease and many are successful.

According to WebMD, “half of all cancers are curable if caught early.”

While there is an increase in numerous types of cancers in dogs and a decrease in other kinds, it would appear any apparent increase in overall incidences might come down to better vet care and thus more cases of disease actually being diagnosed.

“I think people are taking better and better care of their animals and pets are living longer so we are seeing more animals live to an age where they develop cancer,” veterinary oncologist, Dave Ruslander, told WebMD.

“Years past, many dogs died from common illnesses or were hit by a car. Now, we have vaccines and we keep our dogs indoors, so they are just around longer.”

“Veterinary oncology has progressed amazingly in the past two decades,” Ruslander adds. “Twenty years ago, most people didn’t even know dogs got cancer. Today, it’s common to find people whose dogs have been treated for cancer. There are so many more facilities for treating canine cancer now and there are veterinarians who do nothing but treat cancer.”

While there is ongoing debate on whether cancer is more common among purebreds or mixed breeds, disturbing reports show the disease is taking a particularly deadly toll on the beloved golden retriever breed.

Californian Pat Kennedy has lost three goldens to different types of cancer, according to a KFSN report which claims more than half of all dogs of that breed will die from some form of the disease.

In a bid to determine why the disease is so deadly to the breed, the Morris Animal Foundation has launched a $32-million national study.

The Colorado-based foundation track more than 3,000 purebred golden retrievers for their entire lifespans - researchers collecting blood and fur samples and taking an exhaustive look at the dogs' lives from what they eat to the environment they live in.

Foundation CEO, Dr. John Reddington, says the study is in its early days but they have not ruled out the problem might be rooted within the dog and explained by a better examination of the genetics of the breed.

He said there may be a genetic link and, if that's the case “unlike the human population,” if identified can potentially be bred out of the population.

If there is a silver lining to breed-specific cancers, with golden retrievers for instance, it might be that it “provides an ideal model to identify phenotype/genotype relationships relevant to human disease.”

While several purebreds have proven to be pre-disposed to higher cancer risks, (speaking to a genetic component) mixed breeds originating from a much bigger gene pool are less apt to have genetic-based cancers.

They are not, according to WebMD, protected against “spontaneous or environmentally based cancers.”

“It should be acknowledged that for most forms of cancer,” causes are “multifactorial ... and although genetics are important – environmental factors such as chemical exposure and hormonal/metabolic factor have been shown to increase the risk of development of certain tumours.”

There is wide consensus that the following are effective ways to try to thwart a pet's chances of developing cancer; spaying (which can reduce the chance of mammary cancer eight-fold if done prior to a dog's first heat,) good oral care, ample exercise, offering a high-quality diet, avoiding exposure to pollutants like cigarette smoke and smog and regular vet visits.

 

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

HEALTH - Rodney Habib is on Cancer Fighting Mission

Rodney Habib begins his 2016 TEDx talk by saying “Dogs are awesome.”

In his “#DOGS” shirt, with images of dogs on the screen behind him, he is clearly sincere when he says it.

Habib calls himself “a pet nutrition blogger on a mission: to better the way people feed their pets” but it’s clear that he’s doing more than just that.

He won the 2013 Retailer of the Year Summit, the 2014 Summit Awards Communicator of the Year and Retail & Commercial Services Emerging Leader Scholarship, and was a finalist for the Digital Journalist of 2015.

He has a blog, a twitter stream, an active FaceBook page, a thriving brick-and-mortar pet food store, writes for Dogs Naturally magazine, and now his 2016 TEDx talk is making waves on the internet. 

In November 2014, Habib told Petlynx “my passion still lies in getting the message out to the world. My goal is to personally inspire every pet owner on the planet. I want to change the world, and I will.”

As evidenced in his talk, the change he wants to make is to help pet owners use diet to increase their dogs’ lifespan and reduce the incidence of cancer.  His TEDx talk, and much of his current activism, focuses on improving the diets of pets for this specific purpose, and is the result of years of research following his own dog’s cancer diagnosis.

He states that 1 in 2 dogs will get cancer, and that the Broad Institute has found that while 10% of cancers are caused by genetics, 90% are lifestyle or environmental.

The claim that cancer is so significantly impacted by environment and lifestyle (including diet) is a controversial claim, and contradicts the widely accepted “bad luck hypothesis” of cancer development, but this claim is supported by research.

Habib has a proposal for pet owners, informed by this research and the belief that cancer incidence in dogs can be significantly reduced.

He suggests feeding dogs a diet of unprocessed fresh foods.

Sounds simple, right?

And in many ways, it is.

Habib spoke with both Brian McLaren and Jake Perry, two men who have a track record when it comes to keeping animals alive. McLaren’s dog Maggie died in April of this year at 30 years old, and Perry has held the Guinness World Record for oldest cat alive twice, with two separate cats.

Both men told Habib that they believe their pets’ longevity was due to the fresh unprocessed food they were fed.

This is another claim that may seem controversial but is supported by current and ongoing research. The field of nutrigenomics, which Habib references, is an emerging area of study into how diet and nutrition impacts genes.

Purdue University studied the effect of adding vegetables to a dog’s diet and found a significant reduction in bladder cancer risk, particularly with the addition of green leafy and yellow-orange vegetables.

Habib’s passion and his drive to increase the health and lifespan of companion dogs has pulled him into the spotlight many times over the last few years, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

HEALTH - Canine Cancer Treatment With "Mind-blowing" Results

Imagine scientists being able to unleash a dog's own immune system to attack cancer.

Then imagine the potentially life-saving treatment, (which would allow cancer-stricken canines to avoid more conventional side-effects of chemotherapy,) being downright affordable.

It's much more than a pipe-dream for Melbourne scientists behind a free clinical trial being conducted Down Under which is already proving to have what Dr. Noam Pik calls “mind-blowing” early results.

(Dr. Noam Pik, photo: Chris Eastman)

Pik, head of the veterinary division at West Melbourne biotechnology research group Biotempus, told the Herald Sun if the trial proves effective, the plan is to offer it as treatment to ailing canines within the next two years and “then continue to humans.”

Essentially, the treatment sees dogs take a pill to thwart cancer's bid to kill.

In the year-long trial being done at 20 vet clinics in Australia, dogs are given a single dose of chemotherapy, that's one tablet, designed to decimate T-Regulatory cells within the pooch's own immune system.

These cells suppress the cancer-fighting mechanism of the immune system's T-Effector cells.

Mere months into the trial, researchers say they have already seen several dogs with early signs of remission.

“If the T-Regulatory cells can be selectively killed, the T-Effector cells can get on with the job of eliminating cancer undisturbed,” Pik told the Herald Sun.

Part of reaching that goal has been accomplished by the team's discovery that a dog's immune system, which moves in cycles, can be mapped.

With that in mind, blood samples are taken every second day allowing researchers to determine when suppressor cells are most vulnerable and then delivering chemotherapy at the optimal juncture.

Not only are there promising results, so far, but the prospect of honing in on a cancer-fighting treatment which is affordable would make any cancer-fighting coups that much more accessible to pet owners trying to get help for their dogs.

Researchers say prohibitively high canine cancer treatment costs, which can run in the tens of thousands, could be dramatically reduced and severe chemotherapy side-effects, such as nausea, would not be associated to the low-dose tablet.

“If this works ... it will save animals from having to go through a lot of nasty chemo,” says Swan Street Veterinary and Wellness Centre’s Dr Kathryn Farquharson.

Pik and his partners, although buoyed by the potential research findings which could lead to a breakthrough in human treatment, are cautiously optimistic.

“The results have been very exciting but we want to remain skeptical. We’re trialling it over the next year — compiling data, publishing in scientific journals,” Pik says.

Dr. Maureen Cooper, a Melbourne veterinary oncologist, says the field of immunotherapy – using a patient's own immune system to combat cancer – has seen much progress in recent years and she she is anxious to see if Biotempus findings add to that wealth of knowledge.

“I believe that in order to improve outcomes in cancer patients, novel treatments and treatment approaches are needed,” Cooper told the Herald Sun.

“We now believe the contribution of the tumour micro-environment is immense and has been previously largely underestimated. Thus, we believe it is important to aim treatment at both the tumour itself and the tumour environment with the aim of achieving more effective and durable cancer treatments.”

Sadly, it seems the disease has taken a stronghold on Carol Veldhoven's eight-year-old dog, Jack.

When she learned a broken leg was in fact symptomatic of aggressive bone cancer, Veldhoven invested more than $10,000 towards vet care but stopped short of having Jack endure amputation or chemotherapy.

It might be too late for Jack, but because the dog is enrolled in the Biotempus clinical cancer trial held in January, he may leave behind quite the legacy – being part of ground-breaking research which will benefit dogs facing a similar plight in future.

“We’re not expecting anything,” Veldhoven told the Herald Sun. “It’s more about helping others down the line.”

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

#CATmageddon - Quit Smoking and Save Cats Lives

It’s a well-known fact that smoking is bad for your health, but did you know that cats living with smokers are twice as likely to get cancer?

Truth, an American anti-smoking organization, is hoping their latest video will encourage more people to quit – if not for themselves, then for their feline friends.

Truth describes themselves as “an unstoppable force of smokers and non-smokers banding together to end smoking for good.”

Rather than criticize smokers, their aim is to provide tools for them to quit and find fun new ways to do what no generation has done before – end smoking.

Their video, with millions of YouTube hits, may help do just that.

A variety of studies have demonstrated the danger of second-hand smoke to animals, but third-hand smoke is also a huge concern.

Third-hand smoke is the gasses and particles clinging to a smoker’s clothes, hair, car, furniture and carpeting that sticks around long after the second-hand smoke has disappeared.

Cats lie on the furniture, carpet and your lap unable to escape from these toxic particles. Then ingest them when grooming.

If Truth is successful and eradicates smoking, cats and dogs will live longer, healthier lives along with their human companions.

RESEARCH - Cancer Trial With Canines Could Also Help Humans

(Evan Jost, Go Fund Me)

Evan Jost found the first clue of horror to come in 2015 when he noticed his dog had swollen lymph nodes.

Given the pair had been constant companions since the marine veteran returned from Iraq and brought the puppy home – the subsequent diagnosis that six-year-old Grayson had lymphoma and was expected to survive just a few weeks was devastating.

Their luck changed when Jost hooked up with UC Davis – which touts America's top-rated veterinary school of medicine and is home to a nationally designated comprehensive cancer facility where veterinarians and physicians team up to search for medical miracles.

“They told me about the clinical trials and it seemed really interesting,” Jost says. It also offered hope.

Grayson was enrolled in a trial of a new formulation of doxorubicin, a drug widely used to treat lymphoma and other cancers in humans, which can have toxic effects on the heart. A new formulation, developed at UC Davis, packages doxorubicin inside tiny particles to ideally carry the drug more directly to the tumor and reduce side effects on other tissues.

“We’re trying to create a formulation that will work better against cancer and be safer to give to our dogs, cats and people as well,” says Jenna Burton, who heads the trial and is a UC Davis assistant professor of clinical medical oncology.

“We really need better treatment options, not only for dogs, but also for people. While the cure rates are better in people, many people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma will die from their cancer or suffer long-term side effects secondary to the drugs used to treat it.”

While the lymphoma did not vanish, the beagle got better with four infusions putting the disease into remission.

Although in its early days, the new doxorubicin formula and its current trial will examine how well the micro-packaged drug is tolerated and could mean larger clinical trials with dogs and ultimately, humans.

It highlights just one case where studies in dogs might lead to findings for potential human treatments.

Experts at UC Davis have arranged some three-dozen clinical trials in dogs and because canines have a similar immune system to humans, it has made it possible for scientists, vets and physicians to build “a pipeline for cancer research,” says radiation oncology professor Arta Monjazeb.

“We can take our most exciting findings from basic research in mice and through the veterinary school translate them into clinical trials in pet dogs. That allows us to test therapies and weed out those that are not likely to be of benefit to our human patients and for the veterinarians, it gives them access to cutting-edge therapies that otherwise would not be available,” Monjazeb says.

“Most of what we practice in veterinary oncology comes from human medicine,” adds Michael Kent, professor of surgical and radiological sciences and director of the Centre for Companion Animal Health.

“Now dogs are going to help the other way and hopefully speed development of new treatments.”

Testing a new drug in human patients requires Food and Drug Administration approval – something not required for clinical trials in dogs which only go ahead with consent from owners and other safety and ethical safeguards in place.

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.