%20(2).png)
Research We're Advancing
Canine Cancer Alliance funds innovative research and clinical trials to develop safer, more effective and more accessible ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer in dogs.
We are looking for treatments that can eliminate cancer, prevent it from returning or spreading, and produce lasting responses, even in dogs with the most difficult cancers.
Our research includes cancer vaccines, immunotherapy, intratumoral treatments, electrochemotherapy, combination therapies, early detection and the environmental causes of cancer.
CCA is supporting the development of a novel TLR7/8/9 agonist immunotherapy designed to activate multiple parts of the immune system against cancer.
Activating three complementary immune pathways simultaneously may help immune cells recognize and attack tumors that would otherwise escape detection.
The goal: stronger and more durable immune responses that can control cancer and reduce the risk of recurrence or spread.
New Immunotherapies Designed for Lasting Responses
.png)
CCA has supported the development and clinical expansion of an experimental vaccine targeting EGFR and HER2, two proteins overexpressed by many cancers.
The vaccine is being studied in dogs with osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, bladder cancer and other cancers. Early clinical experience has included remarkable long-term survivors and complete responses in some dogs whose cancer had already spread.
One was Ranger. After his osteosarcoma spread to his lungs, he received the experimental vaccine. His visible lung metastases completely disappeared.
EGFR/HER2 Cancer Vaccine
Ranger
Hemangiosarcoma is one of the most devastating cancers in dogs. It often develops silently and has frequently begun to spread before it is diagnosed.
CCA has made hemangiosarcoma a major research priority, supporting approaches to understand why it develops, detect it earlier, personalize treatment and prevent recurrence and metastatic spread.
Our work includes cancer vaccines and immunotherapy, environmental risk research, the gut microbiome and personalized approaches using multi-omics and digital twin technologies.
A Major Focus on Hemangiosarcoma
Guero joined our trial in July with cardiac hemangiosarcoma that had spread to his lungs. After weekly combination immunotherapy, his metastatic tumors were gone by December.
Delivering immune-stimulating therapies directly into a tumor may help the immune system learn what the cancer looks like and generate an attack against cancer cells elsewhere in the body.
CCA is advancing approaches involving TLR agonists, IL-12, electrochemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors and other immune-modulating therapies.
The goal: generate a systemic immune response capable of controlling cancer and reducing the risk of recurrence and spread.
Intratumoral and Combination Immunotherapy
Mila joined our clinical trial in January with inoperable thyroid cancer. After several weeks of immune-stimulating treatment, most of her metastatic tumors stabilized or began shrinking.
Electrochemotherapy uses brief electrical pulses to dramatically increase the amount of chemotherapy that enters cancer cells, producing powerful local tumor control with relatively small amounts of chemotherapy.
CCA is particularly interested in combining electrochemotherapy with immunotherapy.
The bigger question: Can we turn effective local tumor destruction into an immune response that helps control cancer elsewhere and reduces the chance that it returns?
Electrochemotherapy + Immunotherapy
CCA is supporting research at Duke University investigating whether environmental exposures contribute to cancer risk in dogs, including hemangiosarcoma.
Because dogs share our homes, water, air and environment, this research may also provide important insights into how environmental exposures contribute to cancer across species.
Why Do So Many Dogs Get Cancer?
Treating cancer is essential. Preventing it would be even better.
Other Research We're Advancing
Why do some cancer patients respond to immunotherapy while others do not?
CCA is supporting research into whether differences in the gut microbiome influence treatment response, and whether modifying the microbiome could help more dogs respond and live longer.
The Gut Microbiome and Cancer Immunotherapy
CCA has supported research involving mycobacterial cell wall fraction immunotherapy, including Immunocidin, exploring whether activating innate immunity can help control tumors, prevent metastatic spread and help dogs survive longer.
Activating Innate Immunity Against Cancer
Your Support Makes This Research Possible
Behind every research project is a dog who needs a better option.
CCA brings researchers and veterinary clinicians together to move promising discoveries toward treatments that can help dogs. We want treatments that can eliminate cancer, prevent it from returning or spreading, and give more dogs the chance to live longer, healthier lives.
With your help, we can move closer to a future where cancer is no longer the devastating diagnosis it is today.