Medical Cures Going First to the Dogs

Bazell_melanoma_dog.jpg  One of the dogs cured of melanoma by a new vaccine.  Source of photo:  screen capture from NBC news report.

 

Melanoma has taken many human lives, including my father’s on April 15, 2000.  Government licensing and regulations reduce competition in medicine and slow the pace of medical innovation.  Animal health care is less regulated.  Is it an accident that dogs are being cured for melanoma before humans?  

 

Vet Philip Bergman remembers the first time he tried the vaccine in a dog.

"That was a dog that thankfully underwent complete disappearance of his tumor," says Bergman.  "It was remarkable, obviously, to us."

Since then, more than 100 dogs have been treated, including Lawana Hart’s Lucky, who last June appeared to have only a few months to live.

 

For the full report, see:

Robert Bazell.  "Treatment for canines with cancer raises hopes; Researchers encouraged by melanoma vaccine’s success on dogs."  NBC Evening News Report; online print version updated: 6:36 p.m. CT Oct 26, 2006.

 

For the video version, go to:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=d7f603e0-86bb-44db-bad0-524ec79b02c8&f=00&fg=copy

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