Petey Impacts Canine and Human Cancer Treatment

Petey, a seven- year- old pit bull, was diagnosed with a glioma, a type of cancerous tumor that originates in the brain. Gliomas occur spontaneously in dogs and humans, and the tumors share many similarities in both species. For dogs and humans, treatment is challenging.

In a unique partnership between veterinary and medical doctors, researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Veterinary Medicine and Emory University School of Medicine received funding from the AKC Canine Health Foundation to test an experimental drug to treat dogs with naturally-occurring brain tumors.

Petey was the first dog enrolled in the trial at UGA.

Dr. Simon Platt, BVM&S, MRCVS, DACVIM (Neurology), DECVN, a professor of veterinary neurology at UGA, performed surgery and removed part of Petey’s tumor. Following surgery and for three days afterward, an experimental drug developed by Dr. Costas Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, chief of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital Midtown, was directly infused into the area of the glioma’s tumor bed via catheters, targeting any residual tumor cells. Petey underwent thorough blood and neurologic testing to confirm the experimental drug was not causing additional harm.

Six weeks after surgery, Petey had a follow-up MRI, revealing the experimental drug was still at work targeting tumor cells. Five months after surgery, an MRI revealed a marked reduction in the size of Petey’s tumor. The seizures Petey had experienced prior to surgery also stopped.

Petey lived a full life for more than two years after enrolling in the clinical trial, and his superhero legacy lives on.

By working together, Drs. Platt and Hadjipanayis learned through the clinical trial to help not only Petey and other dogs with brain cancer, but their findings will also be applied to help doctors better understand and treat brain cancer in humans.

Donations to the AKC Canine Health Foundation make advances like these possible.

Thanks to dog lovers like you, who support canine health research, we are seeing a broad and far-reaching impact in both veterinary and human medicine. New treatment options, like the one that benefited Petey, hold great promise, allowing both our four-legged and two-legged best friends to live more comfortable, active, and engaged lives, even in the face of a diagnosis like cancer.

By making a donation to support the AKC Canine Health Foundation, you are not just helping our dogs, but you are also helping the people who love them. Together, we can build on the important scientific advances in veterinary medicine and biomedical research.