Dogs and Cancer

Interesting article from Pharmacy Times a few weeks ago called "Canines Are Leading the Fight Against Human Cancer." It spells out how a cancer clinical trial for dogs has led to some treatment options that can be used on humans.

The cancers come from what are called RNA Neoantigens. When cells divide, they rely on RNA (Ribonucleic Acid -- this is all coming back to me from the Biology class I took in my first year in college). When problems arise with RNA, they can start a process that can lead to certain cancers. The trial using dogs is for a vaccine that might prevent several cancers that start this way.

Dogs do develop cancers. As the article points out, dogs over 10 years old have a 50% chance of developing cancer at some point. SO finding volunteers for a cancer clinical trial isn't hard. (People do love their dogs, and are willing to sign them up.) About 800 dogs are involved in this cancer vaccine trial. It's a 5 year trial, but early results are promising.

And the hope is that not only will this help some dogs, but will also lead to discoveries that will help develop cancer vaccines for humans. 

All of this made me think about the other ways that dogs help with cancer patients.

The one that stands out most for me is cancer-sniffing dogs. This is because the first cancer-sniffing dog was a standard schnauzer named George. I know this because a year before I was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma, we got a standard schnauzer named Strudel. For all of Strudel's good points, she was never a cancer-sniffing dog. So, not very helpful. But she was very cute, as you can see from the picture below.

Of course, dogs are also just wonderful by their very presence, and there is some research that suggests that having a dog can help lower someone's blood pressure and generally have a healthier heart. So after we lost Strudel a few years ago, we got another standard schnauzer, this one named Katara. So with this little heart-healthy pet, I was surprised to develop high blood pressure and some heart issues. I guess this one isn't much help when it comes to my physical well-being, either.

But, again, she's awfully cute, as these two pictures show.

I hope those of you with pets have a better time having them support your health. Whatever the case, give them extra hugs today and maybe an extra treat.

And be thankful for those other dogs that are helping all of us.

(Posting pictures and stories of your pets in the comments is always welcome.)