Ohio State opens expanded veterinary oncology suiteMay 29, 2019Ohio State University's Veterinary Medical Center has opened the Blue Buffalo Foundation Integrated Oncology Suite, allowing practitioners to comprehensively and holistically treat pets with cancer. Blue Buffalo granted the school $650,000 to renovate the suite. "Blue Buffalo was founded on a mission to help cure a disease causing 50 percent of health-related pet deaths," says the company's vice president, David Petrie. "In supporting the renovation of the integrated oncology space, we are able to support veterinary medicine so dogs and cats facing cancer can receive a cohesive team approach, resulting in better health outcomes." The suite's team comprises veterinarians with specialties in medical, surgical, and radiation oncology. Clinical trials also are a big part of the integrated oncology service and are managed by the Blue Buffalo Veterinary Clinical Trials Office. The company's funding will help support animals enrolled in a study. "Our partnership with Blue Buffalo has made it possible to provide studies that test new diagnostics and treatments across a wide spectrum of pet health, including cancer, renal failure, heart disease, and arthritis," says Cheryl London, DVM, PhD, clinical trials office director and professor of veterinary biosciences. "Clinical trials in veterinary medicine are critical for identifying new approaches to …
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University of Minnesota seeks participants for skin disease studyApril 5, 2019University of Minnesota (UMN) College of Veterinary Medicine is looking for candidates to enroll in an allergic skin disease study. The clinical trial will assess the safety and efficacy of a topical gel for dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD), which is a skin condition that causes severe itching and is hard to manage. According to the researchers, many of the current treatments produce unwanted side effects or they do not fully treat the symptoms. The study will last 14 days and will require the participants to visit UMN on day zero, seven, and 14. The dogs' owners will be required to use a topical gel on areas of their pets' skin and keep a medication diary throughout the duration. During the visits, Sheila Torres, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVD, will examine and assess the participants. Blood samples will be taken every visit and urine samples on day zero and 14. There is no cost, and at the end of the study dog owners will be eligible for to a $200 debit card. To participate dogs must: • have a short hair coat; • have red and inflamed skin, especially on their belly and/or paws; • have a …
Tufts veterinarians treat canine cancer with experimental drugJanuary 18, 2018When Edward Sloan's dog, Dozer, a 7-year-old bull mastiff went blind seemingly overnight, a devastating diagnosis revealed Dozer had cancer. Desperate to save his best friend, Sloan found a clinical trial at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where Abbey Sadowski, DVM, found that Dozer had "lost a lot of weight [and] had several weeks of history before he even saw us." Dr. Sadowski and Cheryl London, DVM, Ph.D., are testing an experimental drug—called KPT-9274—combined with just one round of chemotherapy to treat lymphoma. "We had this remarkable response … when you combine these two things together you can get a dramatic reduction in disease," Dr. London said. Early results of the small study have been promising, especially for Sloan and Dozer. "A single heroic dose … the next day he was able to see," Sloan said. Dozer is three months in remission, and his medical reversal of fortune could eventually lead to a breakthrough in human medicine. London said the outcome of a canine trial is a valuable piece of the research puzzle. "The benefits to the human side are that you get a drug into humans that's actually much …
Cornell, Tufts scientists receive $2.5M from NIH for cancer studyNovember 14, 2017Cornell and Tufts University scientists have received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to use dogs as a model for studying cancer immunotherapies. The dogs used in the study are treated with similar care as human patients, with the potential of being cured of lymphoma. Kristy Richards, Ph.D., MD, associate professor of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine with a joint appointment at the Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine is co-principal investigator on the grant, along with Cheryl London, DVM, Ph.D., DACVIM, a research professor at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. The grant will investigate whether combinations of PD1 inhibitors and other targeted therapies may increase effectiveness of cancer treatment in dogs, thereby setting up the possibility for human trials. Clinical trials in dogs should begin in the next six months, at which time, the researchers will reach out to referring veterinarians for candidate canine patients with lymphoma. Veterinary oncologists at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine and at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford, Conn., will enroll and treat patients during the trials. Patients also will be enrolled at the …
Ohio vet college to receive $6 million to support clinical trials officeMay 20, 2016The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine will be receiving a $6 million gift from Blue Buffalo Company, a pet food company based in Wilton, Conn., to help advance clinical trials at the college.
