November 16, 2011

White Dog and The White Dog Army
Wonderful World Wednesday
Did you know November is Canine Cancer Awareness month? If you have read our blog at all you know that being a part of slaying the horrible monster that has taken too many too soon is a VERY important of this Army’s mission. On this Wonderful World Wednesday we want to share an easy way you can help spread awareness…and some wonderful news about progress that has been made in the fight for better treatment in both dogs AND humans.

Throughout November the National Canine Cancer Foundation is hosting a cool fundraiser full of so many goodies, that for the price of a fancy latte — it's silly not to donate. For a minimum $5 donation to their "National Dog Wash: Wash Away Canine Cancer," a dog wash you do at home, donors receive a package containing: two different high-end dog shampoos from John Paul Pet (the pet care line of Paul Mitchell hair products) to wash your dog, a can of Halo, Purely for Pets Spot's Stew, 30 days of free pet health insurance through trupanion and a pink paw magnet from the NCCF.

Shelter dogs benefit too with a meal supplied by Freekibble.com for every donation.

Take lots of photos during your dog's bath. The NCCF hopes everyone uploads pictures and videos to share. The community can then vote for their favorite photos/videos and the dogs that get the most "Paws Ups" votes can win additional prizes.

To make a donation, click www.nationaldogwash.com. The National Dog Wash packets will last only through November and is limited to the first 5,000 orders and then it's gone! "Together, We are the Cure!"

and now the good news: Major breakthrough in cancer treatment could save the lives of millions of dogs The Ruff Report: Dogs and Health JANUARY 25, 2011 http://www.mysettersam.com/2009/03/ruff-report-dogs-and-research.html
Researchers believe they may have developed the biological equivalent of a smart bomb that could extend or save the lives of millions of dogs suffering from cancer - a discovery which also could potentially change the way the disease is treated in humans.

Four dogs with advanced, aggressive forms of cancer and on the verge of death are now in remission after taking a drug called nitrosylcobalamin (NO-Cbl), which is able to sneak undetected into cancer cells and destroy them from within.
"In all four dogs, there has been a significant reduction in tumor size without any toxic side effects or discomfort," Joseph A. Bauer, a research at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a media release from Science Daily.

About six million dogs are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. The Morris Animal Foundation of Denver - which has launched a global campaign to raise $30 million money to find a cure for cancer in dogs in the next 10 to 20 years - says one in four dogs die of cancer, and the disease is the number one cause of death in dogs over age 2.

The first dog treated with nitrosylcobalamin, a 10-year-old Bichon Frise named Oscar, was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer called anal sac adenocarcinoma. The dog, bedridden and unresponsive to chemotherapy or radiation, was give a survival time of three months at best. But the dog's cancer receded after he began taking nitrosylcobalamin and he was walking again within two weeks.

Since then, the other dogs treated with the drug are doing well. A 6-year old Golden Retriever named Buddy was unable to walk due to a spinal tumor pinching nerves leading to his right hind leg. After nine months of daily treatment with the drug, Buddy's tumor shrank by 40 percent and he was going on two-mile walks. A 13-year-old female Giant Schnauzer with inoperable thyroid carcinoma also showed tumor reductions of 77 percent in less than 10 weeks.

Nitrosylcobalamin targets cancer cells with "biological Trojan horse technology." A Trojan horse is a damage-causing substance hidden in something apparently harmless. Cells have receptors for vitamin B12 on their outer surface. The receptors serve as docking ports where molecules of the vitamin, essential for cells to divide and multiply, attach and then enter the cell.
Cancer cells grow extra B12 receptors - 100 times more than normal cells - in order to divide at their abnormally rapid pace. Scientists have been trying since the 1950s to exploit that vulnerability and make B12-based drugs that attach to the receptors, sneak into the cell and deliver medication.

Bauer and his colleagues attached molecules of nitric oxide, which kills cancer cells, to vitamin B12. The B12 acts as the Trojan horse, easily slipping into unsuspecting cancer cells. The subsequent release of toxic nitric oxide destroys the cancer cells from within.

Bauer's goal is to successfully treat 10 dogs with nitrosylcobalamin and slingshot the drug into human use as soon as possible. "[Dogs] breathe the same polluted air and drink the same polluted water that you and I do every day. If you can find an agent to treat cancer that occurs in a dog with success, there is a higher likelihood that you can take that to the human population and have a much higher response rate than with mice."