Oct. 9, 2006
AU researchers awarded $1.4 million to study new canine lymphoma treatment
Auburn University veterinary researchers have received a $1.4 million National Cancer Institute grant to study targeted gene therapy for lymphoma, a project that could significantly change the treatment regimens for dogs and humans alike.
Dr. Bruce Smith of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Scott-Ritchey Research Center is leading an interdisciplinary team that will administer a genetically altered, non-replicating virus to lymphoma-affected dogs, followed by a drug that seeks out and kills the virus-infected cancer cells.
“Gene therapy is becoming more common in medical research, but what makes Auburn’s research unique is that we are modifying the virus to target, or specifically infect, the lymphoma tumor cell,” Dr. Smith said. “We have also altered the virus so that it encodes a protein, which, when it comes in contact with the drug, converts the drug into a toxic substance and that toxin kills the lymphoma cell.”
Lymphoma, the third most common cancer in dogs, is a rapidly growing malignancy that can occur anywhere there is lymph tissue, including lymph nodes, spleen, liver, gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow. Average life expectancy for dogs undergoing the current form of treatment, chemotherapy, is about one year. Without treatment, it is about two months from time of diagnosis.
“We have worked with targeted gene therapy for five years and have been researching lymphoma for one year,” Dr. Smith said. “Our research will benefit pets directly and may possibly be applied to humans later, because lymphoma is very similar in dogs and humans.”
The grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, covers five years at Auburn, including two years of laboratory work developing gene vectors and testing them on cells, followed by three years of clinical trials with dogs diagnosed with lymphoma.
“Our clinics see 30 to 50 dogs with lymphoma per year,” Dr. Smith said. “The only treatment is chemotherapy, so the owners who volunteer their dogs for the study have the added hope that this new gene therapy will help their pets.”
Two years from now, when the clinical trial starts, pet owners with lymphoma-affected dogs will be able to participate in the trial at no additional cost, other than the normal veterinary fees. Administering the virus and the drug will take three days, followed by occasional follow-up visits for observation for at least one year.
“We are hoping that gene therapy will help patients live longer, better quality lives,” Dr. Smith said. “Even though dogs do not usually have serious adverse reactions to chemotherapy, we want to provide a better type of treatment and reduce their number of chemo visits.
“For humans, fewer chemotherapy treatments would mean fewer side-effects in addition to having longer lives. While a cure for lymphoma is everyone’s goal, any increase in the remission time is significant for the patient.”
If the research and clinical trials at Auburn University prove successful, then researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham would apply Auburn’s findings to human medical research and possibly have clinical trials. Dr. David Curiel of UAB is a co-investigator on AU’s lymphoma research, as are Auburn veterinary faculty Drs. Curtis Bird, Mary Lynn Higginbotham, Annette Smith and Elizabeth Whitley.
“None of the individuals could accomplish this project alone, but through a collaborative effort we hope to help canine patients directly while adding to the knowledge base for cancer treatment in humans,” Dr. Smith said.
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