Comparative Immunotherapy Program News

The Emmy award-winning PBS documentary series "Shelter Me: The Cancer Pioneers" premiered this month, highlighting veterinary clinician scientists bringing novel therapies to canine cancer patients and, in turn, advancing treatments for dogs and humans.  

Among those featured is Nicola Mason, Penn Vet’s Paul A. James and Charles A. Gilmore Endowed Chair Professor, who led clinical trials evaluating a Listeria-based vaccine to treat pet dogs with osteosarcoma, paving the way for human clinical trials. Mason attended the premiere along with colleagues from the NCI and the University of Illinois, clients Colleen and Reyan Carpenter, whose dog Shenan was one of the first to receive the Listeria-based vaccine, Serena Saboda, who received the same vaccine in the pediatric clinical trial and the Agostis, who lost their son Massi to osteosarcoma last year.

"It was an incredibly beautiful, humbling, and uplifting evening," Mason said. "At the heart of it all are the dogs and people working together to improve the lives of cancer patients through comparative oncology."

Congratulations to Nicola Mason, The Paul A. James and Charles A. Gilmore Endowed Chair Professor, for being named Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) for her “meritorious contributions to knowledge.” Recently, Mason participated in the RCVS Fellowship Day in London, where she and her peers explored the role of the veterinary surgeon in disease outbreaks and disaster management. Established in 1844 by a royal charter of Queen Victoria, the RCVS monitors the educational, ethical, and clinical standards of the veterinary profession in the U.K. Fellows are admitted to the RCVS in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the veterinary profession.

In May 2024, Dr. Mason presented four talks at the European Society of Veterinary Oncology’s annual meeting in Bucharest, Romania. ESVONC encourages research, furthers education, and facilitates communication about comparative oncology.

• Targeted therapies and iNKT cells: Innovative Engineering in Human and Canine Immunotherapy to meet Ever-Emerging Challenges in Cancer Care.
• Targeted therapies in Cancer Management: Monoclonal antibodies and checkpoint inhibition harness immune power to eliminate cancer.
• Comparative approaches to improve efficacy and availability of adoptive cell therapies for canine cancer patients.
• The hunt for correlative biomarkers of immunotherapeutic response - knowing who will respond before treatment.
  

 

On Sunday, May 19, the Penn Vet Comparative Immunotherapy Program's "Canine Cancer Crushers" team participated in the tenth annual Steps to Cure Sarcoma fundraiser at Wilson Farm Park in Wayne, PA. The 5k walk/run has raised more than $1 million over the years for basic and translational sarcoma research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In the US, about 16,000 people are diagnosed with sarcoma each year. However, it's more common in dogs, with over 15,000 pet dogs affected annually, especially with bone sarcoma (or osteosarcoma). This year's event raised more than $250,000, and funds from this event will support two canine projects within the comparative immunotherapy program that will lead to implementing clinical trials in dogs with osteosarcoma and melanoma that aim to benefit canine patients and inform future trials in human patients.

Each year, The SebastianStrong Foundation commits to driving pivotal advancements in childhood cancer research through our Discovery Science Award. This initiative showcases our investment in groundbreaking research that promises to significantly reshape the pediatric cancer treatment landscape. Through a rigorous selection process led by our esteemed Medical Advisory Board, composed of some of the nation’s leading pediatric oncologists, we have identified research endeavors that promise to redefine our approach to cancer treatment. Dr. Nicola Mason and Dr. Antonia Rotolo lead one such project at the University of Pennsylvania, aiming to pioneer a novel osteosarcoma treatment using comparative oncology and Chimeric Antigen Receptor invariant Natural Killer T (CAR iNKT) cell therapy. Read More

The World Veterinary Cancer Congress is an international conference held every four years with a goal of improving and developing the level of education in veterinary oncology around the world. Researchers and leaders in various fields of veterinary oncology from around the world gather to share knowledge and hold important discussions on the status of the latest findings in veterinary oncology. Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pathobiology at the SVM presented as a keynote speaker. Antonella Rotolo, MD, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Immunobiology in the Department of Pathobiology at the SVM gave a talk entitled ‘Allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor invariant NKT cells for the treatment of canine and human solid tumors.’ Dr. Sho Yosimoto, a postodoctoral fellow in Dr. Mason’s laboratory, presented on ‘A PD-1/CD28 chimeric switch receptor augments canine chimeric antigen receptor T cell function against PD-L1 expressing target cells,’ while combined VMD/PhD degree student Kay Foos, also of the Mason laboratory, presented a poster on ‘Adapting tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for the treatment of solid tumors in canines.’