The University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital is set to embark on a milestone trial involving a drug which may help dogs, and even humans, suffering from cancer.
U-Vet has teamed up with oncology company PharmAust for the trial, to test how effective the drug monepantel – in tablet form – is at treating B cell lymphoma in dogs.
Head of U-Vet’s small animal medicine and oncology service, Dr Claire Cannon, who is also a registered specialist in veterinary oncology, said the hospital would recruit up to 27 dogs to take part in the trial.
“We are ready to start the trial now, as soon as the first dog is enrolled, and it will run until we have enrolled all the dogs,” she said.
Dr Cannon said that while monepantel is safe for dogs in general, and there is some indication that it can be effective in treating B cell lymphoma, the trial was aiming to treat a bigger number of dogs with a standardised dose to determine its effectiveness in fighting cancer and possible side effects.
“It is a milestone in that it is the first formal trial of this drug in dogs with cancer, absolutely, and will pave the way for future studies of this drug in dogs as well as potentially other animals and people with cancer,” Dr Cannon said.
“Many of the cancers we treat in dogs and cats are very similar to the types of cancer people get, and these tend to react to new drugs in a way that is much more likely to be what happens in people, compared to laboratory animals.
“So as well as having the potential to benefit dogs with cancer, this sort of research could actually lead to progress in treating cancer in people as well.”
