At the Flint Animal Cancer Center, we often say cancer doesn’t care if you have two legs or four. It’s also true that cancer doesn’t care if you have wings, scales, or tiny claws. “I see cancer daily, if not multiple times a day,” said Dr. Matt Johnston, associate professor of avian, exotic, and zoological […]
Educating future cancer specialists is central to the mission of the Flint Animal Cancer Center. We have trained more surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists than any other veterinary institution in the world. We also established the first Ph.D. program in cancer biology for veterinarians. Until the day we conquer cancer, the need for additional clinical […]
It’s common knowledge among cancer researchers that tumors lacking oxygen (hypoxic) don’t respond well to radiation. Flint Animal Cancer Center radiation oncology section head, Dr. Susan LaRue, is working with colleagues at four universities to test a new approach that adds oxygen to tumors with the help of microbubbles. “Solid tumors, whether in pets or […]
After pivoting to address the crisis caused by the global pandemic last spring, the team at the Flint Animal Cancer Center is thinking of the future and reimagining what is possible for cancer research, treatment, and prevention. “Despite the pandemic, cancer hasn’t taken a break and neither has our team,” said Dr. Rodney Page, director, […]
Dan Regan, an assistant professor in Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, was recently selected to receive the Boettcher Foundation’s 2020 Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Award. The award supports promising early-career scientific investigators, allowing them to establish their independent research and make it competitive for major federal and private grants. Recipients, known as Boettcher Investigators, are awarded $235,000 to sustain […]
The much-anticipated Vaccine Against Canine Cancer Study enrolled its first patients in May 2019. To date, 274 dogs have entered the study at the three participating sites (Colorado State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of California, Davis). VACCS investigators seek to recruit 800 healthy, middle-aged pet dogs to evaluate the effectiveness of […]
Scientists discovered long ago that cancer is cancer. It doesn’t care if you have two legs or four – it looks the same under the microscope, spreads to the same locations, and reacts the same way to treatment. Despite advances in knowledge, cancer remains the leading cause of death in dogs beyond middle age and […]
When Dr. Dan Regan talks about his work in cancer research, he boils it down to a simple analogy known as the seed and soil theory. He wants to understand how cancer cells (seeds) know where to find welcoming locations to take root (soil). In science speak, Regan studies the tumor microenvironment and metastatic disease. […]
Dr. Rod Page, professor of medical oncology, Stephen J Withrow Presidential Chair in Oncology, and director of the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, received the American Veterinary Medical Association Career Achievement in Canine Research Award at the National Veterinary Scholars Symposium on July 27 in Worcester, Mass. As a champion of […]
Combining a busy clinical schedule with a robust research program is no small task, but Dr. Keara Boss makes it look easy. Boss joined the Flint Animal Cancer Center faculty in August 2016 and hit the ground running to help expand the cancer center’s radiation oncology service and also focus on developing her own research […]
One of the most common cancers in dogs is osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Typical treatment includes amputation, but for some patients, amputation is not an option due to neurologic or orthopedic issues, such as arthritis. The limb-spare technique developed by Flint Animal Cancer Center’s founding director Dr. Steve Withrow provided a solution for those patients (and human […]
In a new study led by Dr. Doug Thamm, medical oncologist at Colorado State University’s Flint Animal Cancer Center, owner enrolled dogs are getting a cancer prevention vaccine. If it works, humans could be next. Why dogs? “Cancer is actually the leading cause of death in adult dogs,” veterinarian Doug Thamm says. “They develop these tumors spontaneously […]