(Press-News.org) A new immunotherapy for companion dogs with advanced-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been shown to improve survival while maintaining quality of life, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The study resulted from a collaboration between The University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston and Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine in College Station.
Using a T-cell therapy developed at MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital, veterinarians from Texas A&M saw a nearly four-fold improvement in tumor-free survival compared to dogs who received only chemotherapy. The median tumor-free survival for the Texas-based dogs increased by close to nine months, which is roughly equivalent to seven years in a human life span.
NHL is one of the most common cancers in dogs, according to Texas A&M veterinarians. Although standard chemotherapy can achieve remission, it is rarely a curative treatment, with the two-year survival rate remaining less than 20 percent. When investigators from MD Anderson and Texas A&M met, they explored the feasibility of administering T cells to improve survival.
"We followed the same rigid standards that we practice for human clinical trials at MD Anderson to ensure the safety of each dog," said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., professor and section chief of cell therapy at the children's hospital and senior investigator on the study. "While these pets are benefiting from the T-cell infusions, this collaboration with Texas A&M is a driving force for undertaking similar clinical trials in humans."
To accomplish the T-cell therapy, researchers took a sample of peripheral blood from each dog entering the study. Then the T cells were separated and expanded in Cooper's laboratory over several weeks. As the T cells grew at
MD Anderson, the canines received a chemotherapy regimen at Texas A&M similar to what humans with NHL receive, a combination of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and prednisone. The T cells were then given back intravenously after the chemotherapy to improve the anti-tumor effects.
"The therapy was well tolerated in all dogs who received the infusions. We saw fewer side effects than with traditional chemotherapy, and the pet owners were please with how their dogs tolerated the protocol," said Heather Wilson-Robles, DVM, DACVIM(Oncology), assistant professor at Texas A&M. "The owners were also very pleased to be supporting research that may further enhance cancer therapy in humans and pets with cancer."
"Treating dogs with cancer provides us with a great comparative oncology model for humans," said Colleen O'Connor, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow at MD Anderson and one of the primary investigators on the study. "We learned important details about the interaction between chemotherapy and tumor cells that can be harnessed to improve the body's immune response. This is something we hadn't appreciated thus far from our clinical research in humans."
From the trial, investigators found that:
Chemotherapy, while damaging the canine tumor, also makes the tumor cells susceptible to recognition by the infused T cells
Infusing back the patient's T cells after chemotherapy can work to improve the survival of canines with NHL, since these T cells were held outside the body preventing damage from the chemotherapy
Biomarkers were identified that can potentially play a role in determining prognosis
Overall the study further affirmed the ability to use the body's own immune cells, such as T cells, to fight cancer. As a result, MD Anderson and Texas A&M collaborators are creating a program focusing on harvesting and expanding T cells at a large scale for broad clinical use.
Investigators at both institutions are working to open a new trial that will infuse genetically modified T cells that are tumor specific and potentially even more effective against the canine cancer cells.
###
Other contributors to the Scientific Reports study include Sabina Sheppard and Mark Johnson from Texas A&M and Cassie Hartline, Helen Huls, Shana Palla, Sourindra Maiti, Wencai Ma, Eric Davis, Suzanne Craig, Dean Lee and Richard Champlin from MD Anderson.
END
DURHAM, N.H. – Americans' knowledge of facts about the polar regions of the globe has increased since 2006, but this increase in knowledge has not translated into more concern about changing polar environments, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
"People's knowledge of polar regions and issues improved from 2006 to 2010, consistent with hopes that the International Polar Year in 2007 would boost public awareness. Unfortunately, we did not see a companion increase in concern about the environmental changes in these regions, ...
A woman who was an advertising executive for Y&R was recently killed in a mid-town Manhattan office building elevator accident. According to the New York Times, she "was crushed to death...after the elevator she was stepping into lurched upward, pinning her between the outside of the car and the wall of the elevator shaft."
After the New York elevator accident occurred, two other passengers waited an hour inside the elevator with her body before emergency personnel could rescue them.
Who is Responsible for the Elevator Accident?
The New York City ...
New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that 77 percent of trauma patients had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D.
Researchers have linked a lack of vitamin D with muscle weakness, bone fractures, and the inability of bones to fully heal. In a new study, investigators sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among orthopaedic trauma patients.
Investigators reviewed the medical records of 1,830 adult (ages 18 and older) patients at a university Level 1 trauma center from ...
When it comes to diets, cookies and cake are off the menu. Now, in a surprising discovery, researchers from Tel Aviv University have found that dessert, as part of a balanced 600-calorie breakfast that also includes proteins and carbohydrates, can help dieters to lose more weight — and keep it off in the long run.
They key is to indulge in the morning, when the body's metabolism is at its most active and we are better able to work off the extra calories throughout the day, say Prof. Daniela Jakubowicz, Dr. Julio Wainstein and Dr. Mona Boaz of Tel Aviv University's Sackler ...
The terrible truth about the danger of football head injuries keeps piling up. Many former pro players are burdened later in life with dementia and other forms of long-term cognitive loss. Some of these players are suing the NFL, seeking compensation for their injuries.
But the problem of brain damage suffered in sports competition isn't present only at the professional level. As knowledge of the problem increases, state legislatures have begun to respond with laws aimed at making competition safer in youth sports.
This is a development that Ohio brain injury lawyers ...
When you are about to collide into something and manage to swerve away just in the nick of time, what exactly is happening in your brain? A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University shows how the brain processes visual information to figure out when something is moving towards you or when you are about to head into a collision. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), provides vital insight into our sense of vision and a greater understanding of the brain.
Researchers ...
A doll in a doll, and then one more, enveloping them from the outside – this is how Thomas Faessler explains his molecule. He packs one atom in a cage within an atom framework. With their large surfaces these structures can serve as highly efficient catalysts. Just like in the Russian wooden toy, a hull of twelve copper atoms encases a single tin atom. This hull is, in turn, enveloped by 20 further tin atoms. Professor Faessler's work group at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) was the first to generate these spatial structures ...
Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Galleria Hotel, a leading Smyrna Georgia hotel, is the perfect place for guests to stay who are attending upcoming Atlanta Ballet performances. Held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta Ballet's upcoming shows include:
- Twyla Tharp's The Princess and the Goblin, February 10-19
- Snow White, February 16-18
- Man in Black, March 23 - 25
The Atlanta Ballet's 2011-12 season includes a mix of classical and modern dance. Presenting The Princess and the Goblin in mid-February, a world premier ballet choreographed by Twyla ...
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have learned how to improve the performance of sensors that use tiny vibrating microcantilevers to detect chemical and biological agents for applications from national security to food processing.
The microcantilevers - slivers of silicon shaped like small diving boards - vibrate at their natural, or "resonant," frequency. Analyzing the frequency change when a particle lands on the microcantilever reveals the particle's presence and potentially its mass and composition.
The sensors are now used to research fundamental scientific questions. ...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When mature male white-crowned sparrows duel to win a mate or a nesting territory, a young bird just doesn't get much respect.
Researchers found that older male white-crowned sparrows don't put much of a fight when they hear a young male singing in their territory – probably because the older bird doesn't consider the young rival much of a threat.
But a male sparrow will act much more aggressively if it hears a bird of the same age singing in a territory it claims as its own.
"These male sparrows assess an opponent's fighting ability based on age. ...
