The USDA has approved a new canine melanoma vaccine, Oncept, designed to extend the lives of dogs with oral melanoma. One of my dogs growing up ultimately died from oral melanoma, so I can appreciate as much as anyone the importance of this type of development.
According to the company's press release: "Melanoma is a common type of cancer in dogs and is the most common malignant tumor of the dog's mouth and can also occur in the nail and footpad. Canine oral melanoma may affect any breed and is a highly aggressive cancer. Normal treatment for canine oral melanoma includes surgery and/or radiation, but even after successful local treatment, the melanoma frequently spreads throughout the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, lungs and kidneys, and is often resistant to chemotherapy."
Since I'm not veterinarian and don't want to misstate anything, I'll continue to quote directly from the company release: "ONCEPT(TM) significantly extends survival time following primary tumor removal. Dogs with stage II or III malignant melanoma typically have survival times of less than six months when treated with surgery alone. In a controlled study, dogs vaccinated with ONCEPT(TM) following surgery had significantly better survival times than unvaccinated dogs (p<0.0001). Median survival time could not be determined for vaccinated dogs, since more than 50% of the treated dogs were still surviving at the time of publication of the study."
Exciting news, right? To read more about Oncept, read the release on CNNMoney here.