CVM and Mayo researchers receive $2.9 million for 5-year study of novel cancer therapy
October 31, 2022
The National Cancer Institute Canine Cancer Immunotherapy initiative recently awarded $2.9 million to CVM researchers and their Mayo Clinic partners to test a promising new therapy for treatment-resistant diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a common type of cancer in both humans and dogs.
About half of human patients diagnosed with DLBCL achieve long-term remission with existing treatments, and fewer than half of dogs do. Those who don’t—whether canine or human—have few treatment options, and their prognosis is generally very poor. The researchers will study the impact of a novel combination drug therapy in dogs with DLBCL that have either relapsed or did not respond to initial treatment, in order to determine the new therapy’s effect on the tumor and its environment.
By analyzing characteristics of dogs that respond to the therapy and those that don’t, the researchers hope to determine ways to accurately identify patients who are likely to benefit from the drugs in the future. And because of similarities between canine and human DLBCL, the project will yield valuable insights for the therapy’s potential use in people diagnosed with this aggressive cancer as well.
