Mast Cell Tumours: alternative treatment

Boxers suffer a fairly high incidence of these tumours. For all Boxer owners, and others who may find themselves faced with this problem, I cross post this, with permission, for your information:

(This was originally posted on a Fox Terrier forum)



Subject: alternative treatment for cancer

This past fall, Meeko (akc intl pr ch ukc gr ch Thundrpas Meeko of Jaybar) was diagnosed with mast cell cancer. it was originally a large what we hoped isolated tumor located on the back of her neck, which was removed. grade II (on a scale of I-III, III being metatasized) at the time, highly aggressive. while we hoped for the best, the vet said it would be back quickly if it had metatasized.

It had. the first week of January, Meeko began having tumors show up on her head, neck, muzzle, chest, back, sides, underarms - dozens everywhere. there also appears to be a large hard mass under her front left shoulderblade.

A long story, but I decided to try an experimental drug that has shown success in treating mast cell tumors in cell culture and other types of cancer in mice, called curcumin. this is the yellow in tumeric, a spice found in curry powder. this both cuts off the blood supply to the growing tumor as well as causes tumor cell death (p53 mediated apoptosis).

The dosage we started with was 80 mg/kg/day, or 400 mg twice a day for a 25 lb dog., administered orally. the drug is available over the counter through health food stores and is labeled "tumeric".

At 8 days, most of the tumors turned black, clotted, and disappeared. the large mass changed consistency. Unfortunately, at 10 days it was clear that some tumors had not been killed. we have now increased the dosage to 120 mg/day, which is the highest we can go without toxicity.

The drug has no apparent side affects - eating is good, she is actually feeling much better, the limp in the front left leg is gone and she is again climbing stairs. we can remove the small tumors on the body, IF the big ones are killed.....

I will keep you posted. However, the important news is that the folks at Emory Medical School are planning a study to test another compound, a curcumin that has been modified so more is absorbed orally, in dogs with mast cell cancer, based on the results in Meeko. this technology is being developed by a small start up company called Curry Pharmaceuticals.

Anyone interested should contact Dr. Jack Arbiser at Emory (I will forward contact information directly for those interested).

PLEASE SHARE WITH ALL DOG EMAIL LISTS! YOU MAY SAVE A LIFE.

Anne
Dr. Camelia Anne Bishop
www.myamericaneskimodogs.com

Thanx for the info :smt023

Have you found out any more information on this topic?

Sorry to hear of the worry you are having.

If you seach Google for tumeric+cancer and curcumin+cancer you will find a lot of information. Whether these things actually do have some beneficial properties I do not know.