Pets and Cancer

I'm not a pet person. The closest thing I had to a pet when I was a kid was hermit crabs. I didn't really like them that much because they were...well, crabs. Several of my siblings and my dad were allergic to pet dander, so more standard pets weren't really an option. Perhaps as a consequence of this (or perhaps it is just part of who I am) I don't really love animals. Don't get me wrong. I like animals. I enjoy the zoo, petting animals, going on hikes with my brother-in-laws dogs, etc. I like animals, I just don't love them.

Something that I care a lot about is cancer.  I was introduced to cancer at a young age. When I was 10 one of my friends mom was diagnosed with cancer. After a long battle, she ultimately passed away. Since I was just a kid, I'm kindof fuzzy on the details of her illness, but I clearly remember how the experience made me feel.

You see, Helen Grubbs wasn't just one of my friends moms. Helen was so much more to me.  She and my mom were the best of friends and our families were so close, sometimes it felt like we were just one big family. Helen and my mom were responsible for introducing me to music, something that has become a big part of my soul. Helen founded Young Naperville Singers, a children's choir that many of my siblings and I sang in. I remember going to her house to "audition" for the choir. I stood at her side as she sat at the piano and I sang "Yankee Doodle".   Sharing in Helen's love of music was an experience that would be repeated many times over the next few years.

I remember Helen's cancer affecting me profoundly.  On one particular occasion after we found out about the cancer, I was again standing next to the piano at Helen's house singing.  I realized as I was there singing that there was a very real possibility that we might not have the opportunity to sing together much longer.  I began to cry as I grappled for the first time in my young life with the reality of illness and death.

Ten years later, someone else who I was very close to was diagnosed with cancer.  I have always been very close to my grandmother.  When I went "away" to college, I moved away from my parents and close to my grandma.  She always looked out for me and took good care of me.  She would often call and have me come up for the weekend to do laundry and she always fed me well.  At night we sit together, play dominos or skipbo, and visit.  My grandma passed away while I was at college.  I was grateful to be able to spend time with her in her last months.  This also meant that I was around for her treatment and to observe the devestating effects of this disease.

Well, If you are still with me on this stream-of-conciousness post, perhaps things will start to become a little more clear.  Due in part to the experiences I described above I study cancer.  There are many good treatments for cancer and many areas where improved treatments are needed.  A little known fact to many is that it takes roughly 15 years from the time that a drug is discovered to become FDA approved and reach the market.  Additionally, only about 2-5% of drugs that are discovered ever ultimately make it to the market and the cost of development for each of those drugs that do make it to the market is over one billion dollars.  This means that drugs are expensive, particularly cancer drugs.  I am working on the development of a new cancer drug called PAC-1.  This is drug has shown promise in treating cancers with certain characteristics.  We are still years away from this drug ever entering clinical trials in humans, but the prospect of a new treatment is exciting and drives me in my research.  Our lab often gets calls from cancer patients who have heard about this drug and want more information.  They want to know when the drug will be available for them.  They want hope.  It is discouraging that we cannot currently provide that hope to them, but we have hope that someday this drug will be used to treat human cancer.

So where do the pets come in?  Well, I may not love animals, but I can understand people who do.  I have many relatives and friends who have pets and love their pets very dearly.  The thing is that pets get cancer too.  Many of them would do anything to help their pet, but chemotherapy and radiation treatment becomes cost prohibitive.  Health insurance for dogs is not common, so often these expenses are out of pocket.

That's why I'm excited to tell others about a new clinical trial for dogs being conducted at the University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine Cancer Care Clinic.  This is a fully funded study with PAC-1.  The study includes over $1300 of diagnostics and chemotherapy.  Information on this study including contact information can be obtained here.

Not only will this study provide the opportunity for treatment of dogs who have cancer, but it will provide valuable information to help in the development of this drug that will allow it to be available to human cancer patients faster.  Please feel free to share this information with anyone you know who might be interested.