80% of every donation to Bone Cancer Dogs goes directly to funding research.

Study on Intravenous Pamidronate

This was the first study we sponsored. The purpose of the study was to determine if the addition of a bisphosphonate (pamidronate) to standardized palliative radiation therapy (XRT) plus anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) would affect survival time and improve the dog’s ability to bear weight on the affected limb. The weight bearing was assessed by several objective measurements, including gait on a force plate, stance time, peak vertical impulse and force.

This study showed that dogs treated with pamidronate in addition to palliative radiation therapy and NSAIDs were able to put more weight on the affected leg for a greater amount of time compared to dogs treated with just palliative radiation therapy and NSAIDs.
Although the survival time was unaffected by the addition of pamidronate to the palliative treatment protocol, the addition of pamidronate produced greater improvement in objective and subjective measures of limb function compared to XRT alone and thus may provide more sustained duration of pain palliation as part of a palliative treatment protocol for dogs affected by appendicular osteosarcoma.

This study was presented at a national meeting of the Veterinary Cancer Society.

Study on Limb-Spare Implants

This is the second study we have sponsored. While it was not a clinical trial per se, it was designed to evaluate test implants used in limb-sparing surgery. Additive manufacturing (also known as 3-D printing) can be used to make metal implants. Patient-specific implants designed via 3D medical imaging data (such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) may provide a better anatomic fit and allow orthopedic procedures to be carried out with little or no modification to the underlying bone structure, thereby improving the bone-implant interface.

This study quantified the effects of plate contact area, plate orientation, and implant stiffness on the mechanical properties of constructs. Test implants were designed to represent the proximal and segmental portions of the limb-sparing endoprostheses. Five different plate configurations were used, both customized and commercially available implants. The study allowed the investigators to select an optimized limb-sparing implant design. To validate the optimized limb-sparing design, an in-vitro biomechanical study was carried out using paired thoracic limbs. Mechanical testing was carried out before and after surgical placement of the implants.

The study showed that the surgical time for implantation of the commercial implants was 40% longer than for the custom implants, and that the strain on the limbs reconstructed with custom endoprostheses was significantly lower than untreated limbs.

Study on Carboplatin & Palladia

This is the third research study that we have sponsored. This was a pilot study conducted at North Carolina State University looking at the possible impact of adding toceranib phosphate (Palladia ®) to treatment of dogs who had undergone amputation and chemotherapy with carboplatin.

The purpose was to determine if the toceranib would have an effect on angiogenesis. Ten dogs were included in the study. No dogs were removed from the study due to toxicity. Median overall survival was 253 days with 30% of the dogs alive at 18 months and 10% alive at 2 years. Although this regimen was well-tolerated, survival times did not exceed previously published data from dogs treated with amputation plus chemotherapy alone. The study was published in the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research in July 2017.