April 30, 2014

White Dog and The White Dog Army
Wonderful World Wednesday
White Dog and the White Dog Army believe that a world that is cancer-free for all creatures would be a most wonderful world indeed. News of advances in the fight make us wiggy-waggy happy and we always hold in a hearts a prayer for Universal guidance to direct those who research by granting wisdom and insight.

We know you all share the hope of new studies which is why we are sharing word of an amazing commitment recently made to investigate new leads in bone cancer...

From Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, this month's Dog Watch newsletter:
$5 Million Pledged for Bone Cancer Research

Osteosarcoma strikes more than 10,000 dogs each year in the U.S. Amputation is the usual treatment for bone cancer, followed up by what the Morris Animal Foundation calls some of the most toxic chemotherapy in veterinary medicine.

To fight this disease, which especially affects large breeds, the foundation has launched Project 5-5-5. The initiative will fund one $1-million osteosarcoma clinical trial annually for five years. First on the agenda: an evaluation of the drug rapamycin. The immunosuppressant is used in organ transplant to prevent rejection of foreign tissue.

Rapamycin also has anitbiotic and antifungal capabilities, and has been shown to prevent the growth of canine melanoma and osteosarcoma in vitro, the foundation says. It launched the research project to find "safer, more efficacious treatments" and ultimately save the lives of both dogs and humans. More than 2000 human cases are diagnosed annually in the United States, with young people 10 to 19 commonly affected.