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Doctors looking for the next big breakthrough in cancer treatment are working together on the MU campus.

The MU Vet School and the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center may be miles apart in Columbia, but doctors at Ellis are watching animal patients closely. Animals deal with some of the same conditions as their human counterparts. According to the Animal Cancer Foundation cancer in the pet population is a spontaneous disease often similar to cancer seen in humans. That includes diseases like non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, head and neck carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and osteosarcoma. 

At MU, dogs with prostate cancer are yielding clues to treating men with an aggressive form of the disease.

The treatment is designed at the MU Research Reactor. Radiologists are using gold nanoparticles attached to a compound found in tea. The supersmall material is made radioactive at the reactor. It stays radioactive for a short time, about three weeks.

If the cancer is caught early in dogs and hasn't spread outside the prostate, doctors can use CT guidance to inject the nanoparticles directly into the prostate, avoiding healthy tissue.

"We're trying to see if we can do it and do it safely," says Professor of Oncology Sandy Axiak-Bechtel, a lead research on the project.

Researchers say gold nanoparticles may be more effective than radioactive seeds which are commonly used in men with prostate cancer. The nanoparticles could delivering a stronger dose of medicine and keep it better confined to the prostate.

Eleven dogs have been treated since a clinical trial began two years ago. The trial will continue for at least two more years. It has drawn patients from as far as Florida for treatment at MU.  It has included small and large dogs, mostly of mixed breeds.

Good candidates for treatment include dogs who have the cancer in its early stage. Doctors can feel it on a digital rectal exam, which is recommended during a dog's annual check-up. While uncommon, dogs will also show signs of trouble if they strain to go to the bathroom.

While not all have survived the aggressive prostate cancer, all have tolerated the treatment well. The main concern has been a blockage in the urethra but when doctors place a stent first, side effects are avoided. The next step will be to test how effective the treatment is in actually killing the cancer. That's why most pet owners chose to have their dog undergo chemotherapy after the gold nanoparticles are tried.

Axiak-Bechtel says dogs cannot endure surgery on the prostate like is done in men because it leaves the dogs incontinent and that's an unacceptable side effect for most owners. Dogs do tolerate chemotherapy well. It's given orally and through IV treatments. Because of the small doses, dogs do not usually get nauseous or lose their hair like people do.

Because dogs acquire prostate cancer naturally as they age, like men do, they are good models to follow. Doctors at Ellis Fischel are working to design a clinical trial to use the gold nanoparticles on men with prostate cancer. The application is still in the early stages and will need FDA approval.