Australia: Dog's 11 cancerous tumours removed after experimental treatment

A family dog, who was given three months to live after being diagnosed with a rare type of cancer back in December 2017, is still living a healthy life, all thanks to an experimental treatment. Adam Johnson, owner of Griffin noticed a lump in 2017, which was later found out to be cancerous. According to international media reports, the rottweiler was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma and was just given three months to live as the doctors believe that this type of cancer is usually a death sentence for dogs. 

While speaking to an international media outlet, Veterinarian and University of Queensland PhD candidate Dr Annika Oksa said that the dog had a really big lump which was, however, taken out but by the time he went back to have his stitches removed from the original surgery, he had another three lumps. She further added that the lumps in his body were growing really quickly. Griffin was later enrolled in a medical trial instead of the traditional route of chemotherapy. The experimental trial reportedly used immunotherapy treatment which is designed to 'wake up' the dog's own immune system so it recognised foreign cancer. 

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The experimental trial

Dr Oksa said that before starting the treatment she took a sample from his tumour during which she was able to see at least 11 lumps on him. The small piece of the tumour was then mixed with a chemical to bolster the dog's immune response which was then injected back into the dog as a vaccine, each week for a number of weeks or months. After weeks of treatment, Johnson was surprised to see the progress. While speaking to an international media outlet, Johnson said the one by one, the cancerous legions began to disappear to point where two years on they still got him. 

Dr Oksa was also surprised as she wasn't sure if the experiment will be 100 per cent successful. She reportedly said that the researchers were encouraged by the results as at about eight weeks or so when the time came to look at him again there were no lumps. She further also added that Griffin was really lucky. She also hopes that the experiment will a way forward to include in the treatment protocol for such dogs. The scientists also hope to expand the research into human trials for similar cancers in years to come. 

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