Conventional cancer treatment, consisting primarily of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, has been largely unsuccessful in curing tumors that have metastasized. Even the most aggressive of these treatments cannot kill every cancer cell, and so after treatment the tumor usually returns. Immunovative Therapies Ltd., a biotech company founded in Israel in 2004 by Dr. Michael Har-Noy, has developed a way to manipulate a patient’s own immune system into attacking cancer cells. Dr. Michael Har-Noy describes how this unique treatment resulted in prolonged survival in a canine patient.

Dr. Michael Har-Noy, founder and CEO of Immunovative Therapies, details a case in which a 12-year-old Great Dane presenting with bronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma, with a life expectancy no greater than 27 days, survived over 50 weeks after being treated with Immunovative Therapies’ proprietary chaperone-rich-cell-lysate (CRCL) vaccine.

Before treatment by Immunovative Therapies, the Great Dane presented with ataxia, nystagmus, and collapse. A chest X-ray showed a mass in the cranial lobe of the right lung. An ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy revealed bronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma, and the animal underwent thoracotomy and lobectomy. Pathologic analysis of the resected specimen showed grade III bronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma with lymph node metastasis and infiltration of the vasculature. The average survival for this extensive tumor is only 6 – 27 days.

Using Immunovative Therapies’ proprietary methods, a 10-gram section of tumor was incorporated into a CRCL vaccine, which was given on a weekly schedule to the Great Dane. Also, Imiquimod, a Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, was topically administered to the animal for the first 12 treatments to stimulate local Langerhans cells. Additionally, a single Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) shot was given at 30 weeks of therapy to further stimulate the dog’s immune system.

The Great Dane remained stable and in otherwise good health until the tumor relapsed 44 weeks after the first administration of the CRCL vaccine. The dog subsequently suffered severe gastrointestinal bleeding and was euthanized just after 50 weeks post diagnosis.

Dr. Michael Har-Noy of Immunovative Therapies indicates that, to his knowledge, this is the first report of significantly prolonged survival following a diagnosis of grade III/stage III primary bronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma in a canine patient. This case suggests that Immunovative Therapies’ CRCL vaccine, combined with topical imiquimod is a safe and extremely effective treatment for malignant canine tumors.