Comments on: Hit The Bull’s Eye With Dog Cancer Drugs http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/ Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM, the dog cancer vet blogs about canine cancer Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:37:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1950 Dr. Dressler Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:25:29 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1950 Deana, the short answer is yes, it would be a good idea, depending of course on what your vet or oncologist thinks... Best, Dr D Deana,
the short answer is yes, it would be a good idea, depending of course on what your vet or oncologist thinks…
Best,
Dr D

]]> By: Deana http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1916 Deana Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:43:50 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1916 My 12 year old Golden Retriever has melanoma in the mouth. The tumor was successfully removed. I am considering the canine Melanoma vaccine; however, she has other issues i.e. a small benign tumor in her rectum, another one (golfball size) under one arm and arthritis. She had large splematic turmor about the size of a basketball removed this summer which was benign. With all these tumors growing, her age and the fact that she has arthritis, would the vaccine be a good idea? THanks, Deana My 12 year old Golden Retriever has melanoma in the mouth. The tumor was successfully removed. I am considering the canine Melanoma vaccine; however, she has other issues i.e. a small benign tumor in her rectum, another one (golfball size) under one arm and arthritis. She had large splematic turmor about the size of a basketball removed this summer which was benign. With all these tumors growing, her age and the fact that she has arthritis, would the vaccine be a good idea?

THanks,

Deana

]]> By: Sheila http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1844 Sheila Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:04:14 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1844 My 14yo 43 pound Brittany has non-small cell lung cancer (bronchogenic adenocarcinoma), a recurrence from 2.5 years ago, resectable except surgery would kill him. No one can tell me how he got this. Jake is on low dose daily Lomustine & arthritis meds. I asked the head oncologist at WSU about nebulizing Farnesol, she said the tumor was large enough that more of the drug would actually make it to the tumor through the blood than through the airway, and that for Farnesol nebulizing was more of a theoretical way to administer it. Can you think of anything I should be trying for Jake? Or change something I'm doing? Can you recommend dosages, I'm unsure of all my doses, I attempt to do 30% of a human dose for his size. In addition to Lomustine and Duracoxib he is getting: * 6 mg Melatonin before bed * Multivitamin (1/3 human dose) with recommended amounts of selenium, Vitamin D, Calcium, and just about everything else (no iron) 2x daily. * Additional amounts of vitamins C, E, D/Calcium (perhaps I shouldn't be doing this?) * Jarrow Artichoke Extract (supposedly high in Luteolin) 3x daily w/food. * Mushroom Science Coriolus Super Strength (supposedly this is the same as polysaccharide-K, the most prescribed adjunctive cancer therapy in Japan) * Additional standardized mushroom powders from Mushroom Harvest (Cordyceps, Reishi, and Maitake which I add vitamin C to). Mushrooms all taken on empty stomach. * Astragalus, Ashwagandha, Milk Thistle 80%, olive leaf extract, and coenzyme Q10 3x daily w/food. * Curcumin C3 (standardized curcuminoids w/bioperene) 2x daily w/food, but not with his anti-inflammatary arthritis med. I understand this stuff is metabolized by the liver into different forms so not very effective, and there's also a Taiwanese study that says not much makes it into bloodstream; should I stop using this? * Artemisinin 100 mg, given with Salmon Oil and Butyrex (Calcium-Magnesium Butyrate). I'm giving this 2x daily for a week, and then quit giving for about 10 days. * Salmon Oil, 3/4 Tablespoon 3x daily. Things I am considering, but unsure of are: * Artusenate. An alternative form of Artemisinin, used with Artemisinin. Oncologist doesn't seem to think I need this. UW Artemisinin researcher thinks it's a good addition to Artemisinin. * Farnesol, I would get from Sigma Aldrich in same form as studies and give orally. * AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound). This is yet another mushroom extract, and I'm told it is the most commonly used OTC cancer aid purchased in Japan. Why is it that everything immune boosting seems to be mushroom??? Do we really need all these different mushrooms and mushroom fractions, or would a couple of them be enough? * Genistein. Is this for hormonal cancers? Any cancer? * I've had to quit exercising Jake; I'm told that with the chemotherapy his body isn't repairing itself well enough to be breaking it down with exercise...??? * There is a study in England that recommends specific amino acids to help with cachexia, and I was considering supplementing Jake's diet with the specific amino acids from that study. (It was not an amino acid in the study, but I used to use L-glutamine for Jake after his surgery as it supposedly helps recovery from surgery, since then I have seen that L-glutamine supposedly can help fuel cancer). I have always been told by herbal types that a dog with cancer should be on grain free food (low in simple carbohydrates). Since my dog needed to gain weight back I had put him on Nutro puppy chow (not grain free). I asked my oncologist about grain free, her answer was, "I would not recommend a grain free dog food. There is no data to support this. The only study to date on diet and cancer was the development of a diet to help animals gain weight that were losing weight due to cancer. A low carbohydrate diet is best in these situations. This information has been somehow now interpreted as grains and carbohydrates cause cancer and grain free diets help fight cancer. There is no truth to this." I saw your article on timing of medication. It was interesting, yet I don't really know how to do more than what my doctors tell me to do. And, I don't think they really know more than what they tell me to do. There are so many little questions about what can be taken together, time of day, with or without food, with fat or water, used like a medicine or like a food, it all gets very confusing. And, when I've gone to herbal practitioners for advice, the advice has usually been extremely basic. What I wanted for advice would have been much more on top of current studies, by someone with extensive and diverse training like this TCM/biochemist... Dr. Subhuti Dharmananda (wikipedia profile) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhuti_Dharmananda I downloaded a pdf presentation for herbal doctors, which I can no longer find online. I would have attached it if I could attach a file here. It seems too complicated and difficult to use myself, but if you would like to check it out, send me an email so I can attach the file and send it to you. It's the kind of herbal help I've always tried to find for my dog, though I don't know enough to know how accurate all of the TCM/naturopath stuff is. My 14yo 43 pound Brittany has non-small cell lung cancer (bronchogenic adenocarcinoma), a recurrence from 2.5 years ago, resectable except surgery would kill him. No one can tell me how he got this. Jake is on low dose daily Lomustine & arthritis meds. I asked the head oncologist at WSU about nebulizing Farnesol, she said the tumor was large enough that more of the drug would actually make it to the tumor through the blood than through the airway, and that for Farnesol nebulizing was more of a theoretical way to administer it.

Can you think of anything I should be trying for Jake? Or change something I’m doing? Can you recommend dosages, I’m unsure of all my doses, I attempt to do 30% of a human dose for his size. In addition to Lomustine and Duracoxib he is getting:

* 6 mg Melatonin before bed
* Multivitamin (1/3 human dose) with recommended amounts of selenium, Vitamin D, Calcium, and just about everything else (no iron) 2x daily.
* Additional amounts of vitamins C, E, D/Calcium (perhaps I shouldn’t be doing this?)
* Jarrow Artichoke Extract (supposedly high in Luteolin) 3x daily w/food.
* Mushroom Science Coriolus Super Strength (supposedly this is the same as polysaccharide-K, the most prescribed adjunctive cancer therapy in Japan)
* Additional standardized mushroom powders from Mushroom Harvest (Cordyceps, Reishi, and Maitake which I add vitamin C to). Mushrooms all taken on empty stomach.
* Astragalus, Ashwagandha, Milk Thistle 80%, olive leaf extract, and coenzyme Q10 3x daily w/food.
* Curcumin C3 (standardized curcuminoids w/bioperene) 2x daily w/food, but not with his anti-inflammatary arthritis med. I understand this stuff is metabolized by the liver into different forms so not very effective, and there’s also a Taiwanese study that says not much makes it into bloodstream; should I stop using this?
* Artemisinin 100 mg, given with Salmon Oil and Butyrex (Calcium-Magnesium Butyrate). I’m giving this 2x daily for a week, and then quit giving for about 10 days.
* Salmon Oil, 3/4 Tablespoon 3x daily.

Things I am considering, but unsure of are:
* Artusenate. An alternative form of Artemisinin, used with Artemisinin. Oncologist doesn’t seem to think I need this. UW Artemisinin researcher thinks it’s a good addition to Artemisinin.
* Farnesol, I would get from Sigma Aldrich in same form as studies and give orally.
* AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound). This is yet another mushroom extract, and I’m told it is the most commonly used OTC cancer aid purchased in Japan. Why is it that everything immune boosting seems to be mushroom??? Do we really need all these different mushrooms and mushroom fractions, or would a couple of them be enough?
* Genistein. Is this for hormonal cancers? Any cancer?
* I’ve had to quit exercising Jake; I’m told that with the chemotherapy his body isn’t repairing itself well enough to be breaking it down with exercise…???
* There is a study in England that recommends specific amino acids to help with cachexia, and I was considering supplementing Jake’s diet with the specific amino acids from that study. (It was not an amino acid in the study, but I used to use L-glutamine for Jake after his surgery as it supposedly helps recovery from surgery, since then I have seen that L-glutamine supposedly can help fuel cancer).

I have always been told by herbal types that a dog with cancer should be on grain free food (low in simple carbohydrates). Since my dog needed to gain weight back I had put him on Nutro puppy chow (not grain free). I asked my oncologist about grain free, her answer was, “I would not recommend a grain free dog food. There is no data to support this. The only study to date on diet and cancer was the development of a diet to help animals gain weight that were losing weight due to cancer. A low carbohydrate diet is best in these situations. This information has been somehow now interpreted as grains and carbohydrates cause cancer and grain free diets help fight cancer. There is no truth to this.”

I saw your article on timing of medication. It was interesting, yet I don’t really know how to do more than what my doctors tell me to do. And, I don’t think they really know more than what they tell me to do. There are so many little questions about what can be taken together, time of day, with or without food, with fat or water, used like a medicine or like a food, it all gets very confusing. And, when I’ve gone to herbal practitioners for advice, the advice has usually been extremely basic. What I wanted for advice would have been much more on top of current studies, by someone with extensive and diverse training like this TCM/biochemist…

Dr. Subhuti Dharmananda (wikipedia profile) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhuti_Dharmananda

I downloaded a pdf presentation for herbal doctors, which I can no longer find online. I would have attached it if I could attach a file here. It seems too complicated and difficult to use myself, but if you would like to check it out, send me an email so I can attach the file and send it to you. It’s the kind of herbal help I’ve always tried to find for my dog, though I don’t know enough to know how accurate all of the TCM/naturopath stuff is.

]]> By: Judy http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1832 Judy Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:12:43 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1832 I just lost my GSP Gunnar to lymphoma. He was diagnosed last October and had 6 months of chemo (CHOP protocol). He did extremely well with that protocol, having almost no side effects. I did read your blogs on chronotherapy and scheduled all of his subsequent treatments based on that information. Maybe that's why he did so well with the treatments. He came out of remission in June, only 7 weeks after finishing chemo. I then started naltrexone and bombarded him with many of the supplements in your book. He also got homemade meals as well as all the exercise he wanted which was lots of hikes and short runs. He had an abdominal ultrasound in mid October which did reveal some enlarged lymph nodes. He also had a chest X-ray which was clean. He had great quality of life until the 3rd week in October 2009 (wow . . . cancer can move like a cheetah) when more labored breathing began and it was clear he was also starting to lose muscle mass. On Halloween night I took him to emergency because of his breathing and suddenly weakened condition. The doctor said there was air in his chest cavity and there was a shadow on his left lung; she conjectured that the cancer had metstasized to his lung. It was too much for Gunny. He died the following morning. But your info on aerosolization is fascinating. I wish we could have tried it on my Gunnar. But after an incredibly valient fight, I think it was probably too late for him and he chose to leave us on Nov. 1. Thank you, Dr. Dressler, for your riveted focus on treating cancer in dogs. Your book was so valuable and helped with a number of issues, esp. nutrition and supplements. May your work continue. . . forever! I just lost my GSP Gunnar to lymphoma. He was diagnosed last October and had 6 months of chemo (CHOP protocol). He did extremely well with that protocol, having almost no side effects. I did read your blogs on chronotherapy and scheduled all of his subsequent treatments based on that information. Maybe that’s why he did so well with the treatments. He came out of remission in June, only 7 weeks after finishing chemo. I then started naltrexone and bombarded him with many of the supplements in your book. He also got homemade meals as well as all the exercise he wanted which was lots of hikes and short runs. He had an abdominal ultrasound in mid October which did reveal some enlarged lymph nodes. He also had a chest X-ray which was clean. He had great quality of life until the 3rd week in October 2009 (wow . . . cancer can move like a cheetah) when more labored breathing began and it was clear he was also starting to lose muscle mass. On Halloween night I took him to emergency because of his breathing and suddenly weakened condition. The doctor said there was air in his chest cavity and there was a shadow on his left lung; she conjectured that the cancer had metstasized to his lung. It was too much for Gunny. He died the following morning. But your info on aerosolization is fascinating. I wish we could have tried it on my Gunnar. But after an incredibly valient fight, I think it was probably too late for him and he chose to leave us on Nov. 1. Thank you, Dr. Dressler, for your riveted focus on treating cancer in dogs. Your book was so valuable and helped with a number of issues, esp. nutrition and supplements. May your work continue. . . forever!

]]> By: Carol http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1830 Carol Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:31:34 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1830 Dr. D I applaud your objective and earnest efforts with helping owners help their dogs through the scourge of cancer. My dog has an advanced osteosarcoma which we have opted to treat naturally, albeit aggressively. It's complicated and all-consuming when you are trying to save someone's life--I went through it with 2 parents too. I tried to fill in your survey, but it wouldn't 'send' because I'm already a subscriber to your newsletter. I'd like to offer this suggestion for your book title: "Cancer Answers for Canine Caregivers." Dr. D

I applaud your objective and earnest efforts with helping owners help their dogs through the scourge of cancer.

My dog has an advanced osteosarcoma which we have opted to treat naturally, albeit aggressively. It’s complicated and all-consuming when you are trying to save someone’s life–I went through it with 2 parents too.

I tried to fill in your survey, but it wouldn’t ’send’ because I’m already a subscriber to your newsletter. I’d like to offer this suggestion for your book title: “Cancer Answers for Canine Caregivers.”

]]> By: Lori Sieben http://www.dogcancerblog.com/hit-the-bulls-eye-with-dog-cancer-drugs/comment-page-1/#comment-1829 Lori Sieben Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:24:31 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=1163#comment-1829 Hi Doc, Interested in your comment about chronotherapy - my dog gets Piroxicam - right before bedtime because she's also on Neoplasene twice a day. Where can I get more info? Thank you! Lori Hi Doc, Interested in your comment about chronotherapy – my dog gets Piroxicam – right before bedtime because she’s also on Neoplasene twice a day. Where can I get more info?
Thank you!
Lori

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