Faculty and clinicians at Penn Vet are actively engaged in groundbreaking research in cancer care. From developing an immunotherapeutic treatment for canine osteosarcoma to genetic rewiring, we are leaders in innovative approaches to treating cancer. Some of our faculty's results are now being used in human clinical trials. Learn about the range of basic and translational research taking place in cancer at Penn Vet.
Cancer Immunotherapies
Penn Vet’s proximity to and collaborations with Penn Medicine continue to yield innovative ways to fight cancer. Penn Vet’s Dr. Nicola Mason is working with Penn Medicine on a project to further develop cancer immunotherapies that are already showing promise in both canine and human patients. Immunotherapy describes the use of the body’s immune system to fight disease.
In collaboration with Dr. Yvonne Paterson, Professor of Microbiology at Penn Med, Dr. Mason is evaluating the effects of a genetically modified Her2/Neu-expressing listeria-based vaccine in dogs with an aggressive bone tumor known as osteosarcoma. Despite limb amputation and chemotherapy, 60% of dogs with osteosarcoma die within one year of diagnosis. Dogs with Her2/neu-positive osteosarcoma have traveled to Penn Vet from Ohio, Florida, Louisiana, and Montana to receive this novel therapy. Preliminary data from this trial indicates that the vaccine prolongs survival times when administered to dogs that have undergone amputation and follow-up chemotherapy. These findings may change the paradigm of canine osteosarcoma treatment and provide essential preliminary data to advance this approach in children with osteosarcoma and adults with a variety of different tumor pathologies, including mammary carcinoma.
Dr. Mason’s immunotherapy program also incorporates personalized medicine approaches to canine lymphoma with a soon-to-be launched clinical trial evaluating the effects of a second-generation antigen-presenting cell vaccine for dogs with B-cell lymphoma. This vaccine builds on the published success of a previous Penn Vet clinical trial that showed prolonged survival of dogs with B-cell lymphoma that received this vaccine following successful induction chemotherapy.
Another example of personalized immunotherapy being evaluated in dogs at Penn Vet is a recently launched program to develop genetically modified T-cells that can be adoptively transferred into canine patients to fight different types of cancer including lymphoma and carcinomas. This work is made possible through the generosity of the Richard Lichter Charity for Dogs. The research is in its early stages, but Dr. Mason’s lab has already shown feasibility of the approach using canine constructs, and her team hopes to advance this in canine patients who have failed currently available treatments for lymphoma in the New Year.
Learn more about Dr. Mason's Canine Cancer & Immunotherapy Research at Penn Vet...
Molecular and Cellular Basis for Tumor Growth and Metastasis
Remarkable advances have been made in understanding the molecular pathways that can go awry, leading to the transformation of normal cells to malignant cells. Drugs that target these pathways have been developed and, in a number of cases, have shown clinical efficacy. Important advances in medical, surgical, and radiation oncology have also improved treatment of primary tumors. So why then does cancer remain the second most common cause of death? Malignant cells in primary tumors can prove resistant to therapy and can develop the capacity to escape from the tissue of origin to other tissues and organs – a process known as metastasis, which is the most common cause of cancer-related death. In addition, environmental factors, diet, and aging present risks that contribute to the prevalence of some cancers.
At Penn Vet, Dr. Ellen Puré’s research defines the mechanisms by which the local tumor microenvironment, as well as the systemic response to tumors, can either accelerate or put the brakes on cancer cell growth and metastasis. Once pathways are defined, Dr. Puré develops mechanism-based therapeutic interventions that favor inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis and promote effective anti-tumor immunity. The goal is then to turn these complexities into new treatments for preventing or treating cancer that complement current approaches used in clinical settings. Dr. Puré is the founder of the Penn Vet Cancer Center.
Cancer Imaging Systems
Penn Vet’s Dr. David Holt has partnered with Penn Medicine to improve detection of surgical margins at the time of surgery to remove soft tissue sarcomas. Dr. Holt currently offers a surgery using dye and special imaging equipment to Ryan Hospital patients. This technique is vital in both veterinary and human surgical oncology to ensure that the entire tumor is resected.
Comparative Oncology Program
Penn Vet is a member of the Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium (COTC), which is run by the National Cancer Institute and provides access to a wide range of new cancer drugs in the early stages of testing.
The COTC is an active network of twenty academic comparative oncology centers, centrally managed by the NIH-NCI-Center for Cancer Research's Comparative Oncology Program, that functions to design and execute clinical trials in dogs with cancer to assess novel therapies. The goal of this effort is to answer biological questions geared to inform the development path of these agents for future use in human cancer patients.