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From left: Beth Viney, Puppy Up Madison co-chair; Dr. Neil Christensen; Dr. Kai Shiu, Puppy Up Madison co-chair; and Ginger Morgan, executive director of the Puppy Up Foundation. (Photo: Nik Hawkins)
Osteosarcoma is a highly aggressive and painful bone cancer that affects both dogs and humans. With 10,000 new cases diagnosed in dogs each year, it is the most common form of canine bone tumor, and most dogs succumb to the disease within a year of diagnosis.
Oncologists at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) have been investigating osteosarcoma for some time, looking to uncover its underlying causes and develop more effective therapies. And now, thanks to a $96,000 grant from the Puppy Up Foundation, the school will launch a new study aimed at improving mobility and quality of life for dogs afflicted by the disease.
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A bulletin board full of thank you notes from clients hangs on the wall outside of the TomoTherapy vault in the Frank and Evelyn Fryer Radiation Therapy and Physical Rehabilitation Clinic at UW Veterinary Care. (Photo: Nik Hawkins)
Under the direction of Dr. Neil Christensen, clinical instructor in the Department of Surgical Sciences and a member of the UW Veterinary Care (UWVC) radiation oncology team, researchers will explore the potential benefits of stereotactic radiation therapy for osteosarcoma patients.
“Stereotactic radiation is a newer form of treatment made possible by recent technological advances,” says Christensen. “It allows for larger, more accurate doses of radiation while still sparing healthy tissue, in comparison to traditional palliative radiation, which involves smaller, prolonged doses.”
Specifically, the study will look at how stereotactic radiation performs in terms of pain relief for patients and in stimulating an immune response that helps patients’ bodies fight bone tumors on their own.
UWVC is equipped to deliver this advanced treatment with its TomoTherapy unit, which was originally developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison using data from SVM clinical trials. TomoTherapy is now used widely in human medicine, but only one other veterinary medical hospital in the nation offers this technology.
Neil Christensen
“Our hope is to help a lot of dogs affected by this disease in the future,” says Christensen. “And the data we generate should be applicable to treating osteosarcoma in humans as well.”
The Puppy Up grant stems from proceeds from the Puppy Up Madison Walk, which helped raise more than $213,000 in 2014 and 2015. The Puppy Up Foundation aims to discover the links between canine and human cancers, as well as the causes of these diseases, by supporting comparative oncology research and promoting awareness of the field.
Christensen’s collaborators on the study include Dr. Timothy Stein, assistant professor of medical oncology; Dr. Michelle Turek, assistant professor of radiation oncology; Dr. Lisa Forrest, professor of radiology and radiation oncology; Margaret Henzler, medical physicist; Dr. Jason Bleedorn, clinical assistant professor of orthopedic surgery; Dr. Peter Muir, professor of orthopedic surgery; and John Kloke, assistant scientist in the UW-Madison Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics.
Nik Hawkins