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New immunotherapy procedure that kills cancer in dogs could help save human lives, too

Our pets are like family members, so when they get sick, we want to get them the best treatment possible. But when dogs and cats are diagnosed with cancer, about half of them have their lives shortened. Now there may be new hope for our animal companions, thanks to immunotherapy research common in humans that for the first time appears to kill cancer in dogs.

An Austrian research study basically took antibodies derived from mice and modified them so that they would readily bind with the receptors that coat dog cancer cells and actually inhibit tumor growth. The antibodies act like a key and the receptor antigens on the cell surface are the lock, so when the key is matched to that lock, it automatically triggers a self-destruct signal inside the diseased cell, setting off a chain reaction that begins to shrink the tumor. Even the body's own immune system gets in on the action and is able to more efficiently eradicate the cancer.

What clued the researchers in that they were on the right path was that those lock-like antigens coating dog tumor cells turned out to be a nearly identical match of those found on human cancer cells. Antibodies from mice, originally produced for humans, are then optimized to canines instead so that they zero-in and bind specifically to their cells.

As a side benefit to the newly created 'caninized' anti-bodies for dogs – just like in humans – these antibodies can be tagged with glowing radioactive isotopes so that when they bind to the cancer cells, they can reveal the tumor locations and where it might have metastasized. This is expected to help veterinarians immensely in treating and diagnosing their furry patients.

And the good news doesn't end here. There are more benefits both we humans can gain from understanding the insidious nature of cancer in dogs and humans. Turns out that not only is there a biochemistry connection but a genetic link in some forms of cancer between both species.

[ Related: Dog with terminal cancer tackles bucket list ]

A recent University of Minnesota study found that shared forms of cancers found in both dogs and humans are caused by the same kind of mutations in the numbers and structures of chromosomes. Specifically they found that the genetic changes in dogs stricken with cancers of the bone and marrow are nearly identical to those found in humans with the same cancer. This indicates that our two species have a common genetic basis for some cancers, which allows scientists to discover a whole slew of other cancer-causing genes in Fido.

Once identified, the hope is that these findings may directly be applied to humans and help people assess their risks for certain types of cancers, including their diagnosis and prognosis.

So for many of us who share our lives with our puppies, it's kind of nice to know that there is more than just friendship and companionship we share.

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