Veterinary Highlights: Fighting Canine B–Cell Lymphoma With Autologous T–Cells

While chemotherapy for canine lymphoma kills cancer cells, it also wreaks havoc on the dog’s immune system. 

T-cell killing cancer cell. Image OMICS Group, Scientific blog

Researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that solution to this dilemma could lay in culturing the patients' own T-cells, harvested prior the chemotherapy treatment, and re-introducing them into the blood stream after the chemotherapy is over.

(There are already other therapies out there using the same concept--employing patient's own cells to treat disease; such as the stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma therapy)

The preliminary study yielded better results than expected.

B-cell lymphoma, the most common type, is the most deadly when untreated. Standard chemotherapy treatment often results in only one year of durable remission.

Could T-cell therapy replace chemotherapy for canine lymphoma all together?

Dr. Wilson’s Texas A&M team, along with researchers from MD Anderson, are working on it. The initial trial results are promising. After all, a healthy immune system was designed to prevent cancer from developing to start out with.

I think it's a great idea. Helping the immune system instead of crippling it.

I am excited to see what else this research brings.

***

Dog owners interested in helping with this research may be able to get involved in Texas A&M’s clinical trials. The Clinical Trials page on the university’s website explains which dogs are eligible to participate, and how to enroll in the trials.

Source article:
Using Autologous T–Cells to Treat Canine Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

Further reading:
Adoptive T-cell therapy improves treatment of canine non–Hodgkin lymphoma post chemotherapy