The One Medicine for pets and people approach has guided Dr. Rodney Page’s career. After a lifetime of achievements, Page has announced his plans to retire as the longtime director of the Robert H. and Mary G. Flint Animal Cancer Center and the Stephen J. Withrow Presidential Chair in Oncology.
Dr. Steven Dow said he thinks the biggest impact of the Comparative Oncology Program over the past two decades has been to increase the visibility of dogs with cancer as a translational model for humans with cancer, benefiting researchers whether or not they work directly with the program.
Dr. Nicole Ehrhart, who was not involved in the Dog Aging Project study, called the new research “wonderful confirmation of something that we know across all species: that exercise is good for healthy aging and that lifelong habits of exercise can be preventive for Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive issues.”
The double-blinded trial is testing Calviri’s vaccine aimed at broadly preventing cancers in dogs. It is being conducted at three leading canine oncology centers – the Flint Animal Cancer Center at CSU, the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Sue Lana, professor and assistant department head for resident and graduate education in the Department of Clinical Sciences, said the raise is part of an initiative to improve CSU's post-veterinary school training.
This trial is one of many examples of not just the collaboration and partnership between CU Cancer Center members around the state, but the overlaps between humans and companion animals, or non-working animals, and the growing body of research showing how one can inform the other.
May is National Cancer Research Month, launched in 2007 by the American Association for Cancer Research to highlight the importance of lifesaving cancer research. For more than 40 years, CSU's Flint Animal Cancer Center has been at the forefront of comparative oncology research and discovery to benefit pets and people with cancer.
Tiffany Martin, DVM, MS, Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology, applied superficial radiation therapy to the turtle’s squamous cell carcinoma in June 2021. The female turtle, which resides at Denver Zoo, showed no signs of the lesion three months after therapy, and continues to be cancer-free as of today.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in pets beyond middle age. If you notice any of these signs in your pet, please consult a veterinarian.