DACC Investigations

The veterinarians of the DACC have affiliations with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and are currently involved in many collaborative projects, a few of which are detailed below.

The first involves the use of a DNA vaccine against malignant melanoma in dogs. Melanoma, especially when located in the oral cavity, toe or footpad can be an extremely aggressive tumor that commonly spreads to other sites and is resistant to chemotherapy. We have recently published the results of the first DNA vaccine trial in nine client-owned dogs with advanced malignant melanoma and found that the vaccine caused no toxicity and a significant prolongation of survival. If your pet has melanoma and you are interested in additional information on these ongoing investigations, please visit our Clinical Trials page.

The second involves the use of another DNA vaccine that tries to tell the immune system to attack the blood vessels of tumors in dogs and cats. The blood vessels of tumors are very different than normal blood vessels. We hope to take advantage of this fact to have the immune system attack the cancer's blood vessels in order to starve the tumor and cause regression. Since this study is a preliminary investigation, we will be first investigating the use of this vaccine on dogs with advanced cancers to determine its safety and efficacy. Additional information is available on our Clinical Trials page.