Professor National Taiwan University Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)
Abstract:
Background: Mammary tumors (CMTs) are commonly found in unspayed female dogs, with about 50% malignant. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are shown to have a high recurrence rate and poor prognosis for dogs with malignant CMTs. The high expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in malignant tumors is a protein that induces endothelial cell proliferation and migration and stimulates angiogenesis.
Objective: Targeted therapy against VEGF has been proven effective in suppressing tumor growth in many human cancer studies. This study developed a caninized VEGF monoclonal antibody (mAb) and evaluated its safety and efficacy in CMT dogs.
Methods: Four CMT dogs (Grade II-IV) participated in this pilot study, three (cases 1 to 3) received 10 mg/kg antibody treatment every two weeks for a total of six times, and case 4 received the same dose of antibody treatment after surgery to remove the primary tumor.
Results: The cases were evaluated with physical and blood biochemistry examinations every two weeks, and no apparent adverse events were found in 3 of 4 cases. Cases 1, 2, and 4 completed six treatments. Based on the RECIST (v1.1) standard, case 1's tumor (Grade II) achieved a complete response (CR), case 2's tumor (Grade III) shrunk by 50% (PR), and case 4's tumor (Grade IV) shrank by 20%. Conclusions and clinical importance: This pilot study suggests that the caninized VEGF monoclonal antibody could effectively treat CMT-bearing dogs; however, the possible side effects are needed for further study.
