Normally, on average, half of these dogs are dead after 180 days and not one of them is alive after a year. Thanks to the vaccine, the tumor disappeared, got smaller or stopped growing. The vaccine did not cause any side effects, according to the researchers. They are hopeful. “An important step towards a cancer vaccine for humans,” says researcher and professor of Experimental Oncology and Angiogenesis Arjan Griffioen.
bladder cancer
In 2006, the research team found a protein that is only present in blood vessels of tumors. It figured out the role of this protein. “First of all, this protein makes it possible for new blood vessels to form. And second, the protein turns off the immune system. Both the new blood vessels and the shutdown of the immune system allow the tumor to grow faster.” The team developed a vaccine against this protein. “The vaccine proved effective in laboratory animals against colorectal cancer, skin cancer and brain tumors. And now also in spontaneous bladder cancer in dogs,” says Griffioen.
It was also previously announced that a Malinois, who was diagnosed with bone cancer and who had a very short life expectancy, was back to normal three months after removal of the tumor and administration of a cancer vaccine. That’s what doctors from the Medical Center for Animals (MCD) in Amsterdam said, who treated the 10-year-old Rax.