Battling Canine Hemangiosarcoma: Research & Clinical Trials
March 8, 2022
The Fight Against Hemangiosarcoma
Canine hemangiosarcoma is one of the most aggressive cancers affecting dogs, with more than half of diagnosed dogs succumbing to the disease within six months, even with aggressive treatment. Ethos Discovery is leading a clinical trial research initiative to change this narrative by developing innovative, curative treatments for this deadly cancer. In this blog you will learn about the:
- Ethos-PUSH nationwide trial for dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma
- Advances in diagnostics and treatments in canine hemangiosarcoma
- Partnership with the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation to expand our trial access and research
Canine hemangiosarcoma is the most aggressive cancer seen in dogs. Despite aggressive treatment with surgery and chemotherapy, more than 50% of dogs die due to metastatic spread of their cancer within six months of their diagnosis. Importantly, no significant advancements in the treatment of hemangiosarcoma have occurred in over 30 years. Several challenges have hindered improvements in patient outcomes including limitations in the capabilities of current imaging technologies and blood-based markers to detect early disease and metastasis, gaps in understanding of the molecular biology of hemangiosarcoma, and a lack of therapies that effectively alter the aggressive metastatic behavior of this cancer.
Ethos Discovery is tackling this cancer in the hopes of delivering curative outcomes for dogs with hemangiosarcoma through our multidisciplinary, collaborative hemangiosarcoma research program encompassing:
- Tissue based prognostic markers to allow segmentation of patients (STAMP: Specialized Test for Assessment of Molecular Prognosis).
- The development of minimally invasive platforms to detect blood-based biomarkers (i.e. Liquid Biopsy) for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic monitoring (CHAMP: Canine Hemangiosarcoma Precision Medicine and Liquid Biopsy Program).
- Specialized approaches for hemangiosarcoma tumor sample collection to manage the extensive heterogeneity seen in this disease.
- Clinical trial program investigating the use of novel drugs for the treatment of hemangiosarcoma with the goal of curing this aggressive cancer (Ethos-PUSH: Ethos Precision Medicine Umbrella Study for Hemangiosarcoma).
Ethos-PUSH: Growing in Numbers
Ethos-PUSH is a nationwide, prospective clinical trial for 400 dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma which begins with a biological rationale to evaluate eight therapeutic approaches and deliver curative outcomes for dogs with this cancer. This study specifically asks whether drugs that are matched to genomic subtypes of hemangiosarcoma will result in improved outcomes. Ethos Discovery recently celebrated the milestone of enrolling 100 patients on Ethos-PUSH. This transformative clinical study continues to bring us one step closer to finding a cure for hemangiosarcoma!
Champ and his family: Ethos-PUSH study
Expanding the Opportunity for Pet-Owning Families
With collaboration from the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, Ethos Discovery is now able to expand the opportunity for pet-owning families from outside the geographical catchment of our 25 Ethos Veterinary Hospitals nationwide to receive care in this trial, and to conduct genomic correlative studies with internationally recognized scientific teams to gain critical new knowledge necessary to propel the field to this future goal of curative outcomes. By creating a mechanism whereby pet dogs from practices beyond Ethos hospital geographies may benefit from this trial opportunity, expanded participation in this study will lay the foundation for accelerating drug development and improve patient outcomes for dogs with this devastating disease.