After promising trials in mice, the researchers tested their compound, called S-PAC-1, on dogs. The drug arrested tumor growth in three of six dogs with lymphoma, and induced partial remission of tumors in a fourth, with minimal side effects. This dog, a Walker Tree Hound named Hoover, is a healthy research dog used to help determine the best dosing strategy for S-PAC-1. (Veterinary clinical medicine professor Tim Fan adopted Hoover at the completion of the study.)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Researchers have identified a new target for the treatment of lymphoma and are testing a potential new drug in pet dogs afflicted with the disease. At low doses, the compound, called S-PAC-1, arrested the growth of tumors in three of six dogs tested and induced partial remission in a fourth. The results of the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, appear this month in the journal Cancer Research. The new compound targets a cellular enzyme, procaspase-3, that when activated spurs a cascade of reactions that kill the cell, said chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother, who co-led the study with Tim Fan, a professor of veterinary clinical medicine. Procaspase-3 offers an attractive target for cancer therapy, in part because cancers often interfere with normal cell death, and in part because many tumors - including those found in breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, melanoma and liver - cancer - contain high levels of procaspase-3. "In my lab, we try to think of novel targets and novel approaches to cancer and other diseases," Hergenrother said.
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