Yesterday, the FDA approved the first cancer drug for dogs. It was created by Pfizer and is going to be released for sale in early 2010. It's called Palladia and is going to be used specifically for mast cell tumors in dogs. Mast cell tumors appear in about 20% of the cancer cases that affect dogs. This pill can be administered at a veterninary hospital or at home by a caregiver.
This drug is a huge revelation because it is the first pill used to fight cancer in dogs. Since 2007 this company has expanded pet oncology research. Pfizer allocated over $300,000,000 dollars towards animal health research in the past year. In fact, all of the major drug companies have an animal health division to creat medicine for domestic animals such as dog and cats.
It works by preventing the blood in a dog's body from travelling to the blood supply of the tumor. What is most promising is the fact that it shrunk around 60% of the tumors in dogs that had these mast cell tumors. Before, doctors had to use surgery or chemotherapy to battle this type of cancer. Since this is an anti-cancer drug, there has to be extreme caution giving this medicine, especially if you are a pregnant woman.
As you know, all drugs have side effects. Here are some of Palladia's which tend to be mild to moderate:
- diarrhea
- decreased appetite
- lethargy (tiredness)
- vomiting
There are cases where dogs may have a more severe reaction and for that it's adviseable to contact your vet immediately and stop giving the medicine if you suspect that is the case. If you would like to read what the company has to say about this drug, check out the information here.
Well, thanks for stopping in kool ones. This news is something I am glad to have shared with you and I hope this drug becomes a success. Thanks again for stopping in. :)
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