Remarkable 12 month survival-rate with Elias Immunotherapy

Elias Cancer Immunotherapy works by activating the dog’s own immune system to fight cancer and has shown the ability to cure a subset of dogs with osteosarcoma. Now fully approved, this treatment is available for canine patients outside of a clinical trial.

According to a recent study, when a single dose of chemotherapy is added to Elias immunotherapy, the 12-month survival rate for osteosarcoma patients increases to over 70%.

In this recorded webinar, Dr. Jeffrey Bryan of the University of Missouri explains how the therapy works, what the response rates look like, and the types of canine cancers it may treat. He also addresses eligibility, access, and potential side effects.

Watch the video here.

Episode Highlights:

[00:04:40] Cancer cells are surrounded by pro- and anti-cancer immune cells

[00:13:04] Elias immunotherapy needs a fresh tumor. Amputation, vaccine priming, apheresis, activated T cell infusion, IL-2 support.

[00:18:18] Safety and side effects.

[00:20:13] Pilot outcomes: long-term survivors without chemo

[00:23:50] What happens when one dose of chemo is added

[00:35:05] ECI referral has to happen before surgery

[00:40:23] Cost and Insurance

[00:46:23] What if you can't get surgery?

[00:56:19] Osteosarcoma diagnosis with fine needle aspirate

[00:58:33] Importance of gut microbiome

[01:05:38] Metastases patterns

Key Quotes:

“Earlier this year, Elias Cancer Immunotherapy became fully approved by the USDA.”

“Average survival in the pilot was over a year without chemotherapy.”

“In a prospectively identified cohort, chemotherapy followed by Elias immunotherapy produced substantially longer survival than amputation plus chemotherapy alone.”

“If you look at just the subsets that did the best, it really seems to be that single dose of carboplatin plus the immunotherapy, and there's some benefit to that financially for the families as well, that if that single dose of chemotherapy is beneficial, it is less cumbersome, fewer visits, less risk of febrile neutropenia, and less expense than trying to get in a full dose of the carboplatin chemotherapy first. 

"A 70% chance of survival at one year, it is a really different prospect for osteosarcoma dogs and, I think a hugely better outcome."

"With the immunotherapy now being, having been approved by the USDA and therefore insurance companies starting to cover it more routinely, I think that this becomes more within reach of a lot of families."

"I would emphasize to the families and the veterinarians on the call and those who see this in the future, that referral for this therapy has to occur before amputation. If the tumor is gone, we don't have that vaccine material, and therefore, a vaccine can't be created to prime the immune system to really make all of these lymphocytes that are important to treating the metastatic disease that's hiding."

“Elias immunotherapy is available in most regions, and many families can be treated close to home.”

“In our practice, the total cost is around 20,000 dollars, including the amputation.”

“Osteosarcomas in dogs are severely genomically deranged, so tumor mutational burden may not be the key discriminator for Elias response.”

“Combining chemotherapy and possibly a single dose of chemotherapy with this immunotherapy may be more effective than either alone.”

“If I repeated Elias after metastasis, I would want to add checkpoint inhibition or combine with radiation.”

"In most oncology practices, we have found as a profession that the cytological samples that we can get out of fine needle aspirates to the bone are of equal quality and possibly greater diagnostic benefit and less risk even than taking core biopsies of those lesions. It is routine in our practice to aspirate these every single time. Clinical pathology laboratory can perform alkaline phosphatase staining on the slides that we submit, which, if they are positive, greatly increases the likelihood that you're dealing with a primary bone tumor, which is most commonly osteosarcoma."

"I recommend anybody whose dog develops a bone lesion to see someone, either a general practitioner or an oncologist, who can accomplish that cytological evaluation of the bone tumor before you go to surgery."

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Check out other articles and videos

• Could This Combination Immunotherapy Help Dogs Beat Osteosarcoma (and other aggressive cancers)?

• Finding better, less toxic cancer treatments for dogs with a new genomic test?

• A New Promising Combination Immunotherapy Trial: Autologous Cancer Vaccine with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (K9-ACV + ICI)

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Canine Cancer Alliance is a non-profit organization supporting research for canine cancer cures.

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Always seek guidance from your veterinarian with any questions regarding your pet’s health and medical condition.