Dogs, humans attack cancer together

By Ed Yeates

September 18th, 2014 @ 7:02pm

SALT LAKE CITY It appears dogs and humans are much more alike genetically than we believed, and what's saving their lives could save our lives as well. In fact, researchers are "going to the dogs," so to speak, to form a unique partnership.

And why shouldn't they?

The lifelong bonding between humans and dogs is eloquent. We love them as members of our families. Their loyalty to us is boundless. And now, that bond goes much deeper.

At Cottonwood Animal Hospital, Heidi Richmond's dog Grizz is being treated with a vaccine that's a form of immunotherapy. The treatment is approved only for oral melanomas in dogs, but designed from human genetics. Veterinarian Nathan Cox says this kind of match-up intrigues researchers.

"The genetics of cancer in dogs is very similar to what it is in people, " he said. "That allows us a baseline to be able to study cancer in an alternate species."

For Grizz and other dogs with cancer this human genetic product is different enough to trigger an immune response but similar enough to the dogs own melanoma to cross react training the immune system to attack the cancer cells.

"We have dogs living out past three to four years with the vaccine, so it's more than doubled survival times and in some dogs," Cox said. "It's actually resulted in a cure for their disease."

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Dogs, humans attack cancer together