Neoplasene as a Dog Cancer Treatment
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: May 24th, 2020
I received a question recently asking if I had heard of Neoplasene, so I thought I should post about it.
Neoplasene is derived from bloodroot, an old herb used by native Americans. The stuff works but can be a bit much for an average dog lover to deal with. Read on.
It is delivered to the dog cancer patient in a salve that is rubbed on the tumor, or pills, or can be injected in the vein or around the tumor.
It is different from so-called “black salve”, as Neoplasene is a specific extract of bloodroot, not the whole herb. Only certain components of the plant are used.
There are a variety of successes documented, especially with tumors of the skin like fiborsarcomas, mast cell tumors, mammary tumors, and others.
Neoplasene is for use under veterinary supervision only. This is a good call by the makers of the product (Buck Mountain Botanicals). The reason for this is, when the ointment is applied to the tumor on the skin, the tumor cells start to die.
When the tumor cells die, the tissue tends to slough off. A hole is left which needs medical attention. This hole can be pretty big, especially if the tumor was on the larger side. Sometimes the defect produced after large sloughs can go down to the bone. Kind of heavy-duty for some dog lovers.
For more helpful tools and information, get a copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide
Other factors need to be considered before using Neoplasene. One is that your dog must not lick the ointment. An Elizabethan collar may be needed, sometimes for a long time. Another issue is the wound may need twice daily care. Finally, there can be pain or discomfort after application or use of Neoplasene, which may require the use of prescription strength pain control medication, in some cases.
Like many tools in medicine, we need to consider all the pros and cons of this treatment. For some dogs with cancer and those who love them, it may be a great match, but not necessarily for all.
I hope this information is helpful. For more outside the box ways to deal with canine cancer, check out the dog cancer e-book, The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, Beyond Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Surgery.
Best to all,
Dr D
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Casandra,
My dog is a Bloodhound/Chow Mix (90lbs), he will be 11years old in June. Last February (2011) we found tumor on his back right leg. On March 1, 2011 we started treating him with Neoplasene given orally and within in months the vet said that the cancer was gone. He is still taking the Neoplasene and he has a callous where the tumor was, no hair grows there, but his doing fine.
Dear Dr. Dressler,
My dog was recently diagnosed with a nasal tumor, and on Tuesday he had SRS performed at UF. Your book has been immensely helpful as I deal with this diagnosis and weight the options, so thank you. His main complication is that the tumor has eaten through the bone at the top of his head and produced a bump. The radiation oncologist wasn’t able to concentrate as much radiation on the bump, and while we don’t know what’s going to happen yet (follow-up CT scan in 3 months), I’m prepared for an eventual recurrence at that bump.
A holistic vet here recommended Neoplasene as an option for the tumor, but she doesn’t have much experience with nasal cancer. Do you see him as a candidate for Neoplasene? Or what questions should I ask? My concern is that if the Neoplasene works, he’ll end up with a hole on the top of his head where the bump currently is since the bump is tumor and not bone.
I would appreciate your thoughts if you have time.
Dear Korine
this sounds very tough. You may indeed get a cavity. You ought to be able to look at the CT to asses the bone involvement and determine a rough amount of available normal bone. I would team up with the imaging person and discuss that. Might do oral neoplasene only (no topical) with half dose apocaps, to curb growth instead of cause cancer cell death, in order to preserve the structure. I hope this helps. Talk to your vet and onc…best
Dr D
dog has sarcoma
I have a two year old Husky who is like a child to my boyfriend and I… We treat her like a princess. We found out recently that she has a tumor on her back right leg because of placement they are saying they will have to amputate her leg because they cannot remove the tumor and have enough good cells to place over the contaminated area. Can you explain in lame terms how we would go about asking our vet to try this for us. Also what is the procedure? Is the neoplasene injected into the tumor and as it opens and falls off the skin underneath is producing new cells? I would love some guidence we have never been thru this before and are extremely worried about our loved one.
Hello. My dog Louis has hermangiopericytoma cancer on his chest. It is as big as a cantaloupe right now. He is 11 years old and very happy and active despite this. He still loves to play, run, jump in the car and go for rides, chase cats and eat like a pig. I was wondering if neoplasene would be a good treatment for his type of cancer. Thank you for your help.
Just wanted to say that we’re using Neoplasene and it’s been WONDERFUL! It’s saving our dog. We understand that he will be on it for the rest of his life. It’s not a cure, it’s a treatment. He was diagnosed with Histiocytic Sarcoma, a very aggressive and always fatal cancer. He was treated at UPENN and we were told to expect no more than 4 months. It’s now been 7 months and Indy is happy and cancer free as of this week! He had an x-ray and ultrasound done and they can’t find the cancer! No side-effects and a playful puppy. It’s been amazing! Best of luck to everyone!
My American Eskimo is eating and drinking and walking 3-4 miles a day and is very alert maybe we fed him something with to much calcium in it. Cantoulope, and squash wich are high in calcium, he is on a no grain dog food wich helped turn him around, changing his constitution Chinese would say. No red meat just fish and chicken. Any ideas?
My dog is 12 years old American Eskimo, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma prostate cancer Feb 2011, at the university of MN animal hospital they gave him until summer of that year, we have been giving him neoplasene, and thuja, also cass options, I would like to know how long he can be on the neoplasene it has been 1 year, we have stopped for awhile to give him a break, we also have a feeling he might have lymphoma instead of prostate cancer his calcium was down and now it has started to climb a little we don’t know if the holistic vet we are seeing will put him back on it, he is doing really good and walks 1-2 miles a day and also eats a lot , he never has a hard time going poop or peeing, please any ideas?
Dear Byron
if it has worked, keep it up. I would also be using the other tools in the Guide including other apoptogens, immune support, diet, antimetastatics, and brain chemistry modification.
D
My 121/2 yr old Labrodoodle, Togo Bear, has fatty tumors. He developed another similar one on his left upper neck. It has grown slowly over the last year and is under the skin. He shows no signs of being sick. I showed it to 2 vets. The last one drew a sample and said it was a cancer. I am not sure what kind. I am now researching as Togo is in great health, eats well ( I make his food), and loves his daily hour plus long runs at the big dog parks. He however does cough like clearing his throat when he lies on his left side. So I don’t have much info. I am making an appointment with a holistic vet in town. This appears to be slow growing. What sort of tumors is this not recommended for?
Dear Audrey,
I am sorry about Togo Bear. I think it is important to find out what kind of tumor you are dealing with here, as it can help us with treatment recommendations, as you will read about in the Guide.
I think this might be an important post for you to read about the benefits of intervening before dogs start acting sick from cancer:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/signs-of-dog-cancer-and-decompensation/
Please let us know the cancer type and we will usually respond within 1-2 weeks.
Best
Dr D
Thanks for your advice; we did meet with a holistic vet on Monday and they also recommended the Neoplasene treatment and after pre op exams, they think she is a good candidate for surgery, so they are debulking the tumor on Thursday followed by Neoplasene treatment and the vets office will be following up with the bandaging and other things. They have also put her on some “tea” pills and an antibiotic, and a diet that does not include dry dog food, so we shall see how this works, I hope things are ok and she does ok with the surgery and treatment; we decided having her survive was our gift this year, thanks again
Good luck Nancy
Best
D