The first cancer vaccine for dogs has received conditional licensure from the USDA. The vaccine, manufactured by Merial Ltd., will be used as a treatment for stage II or stage III oral melanoma in dogs. The vaccine is the result of ten years of research performed by researchers at New York’s Animal Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and hopefully will result in a similar treatment option for people with melanoma.

Melanoma tumors have a protein called tyrosinase. The vaccine alerts the body’s immune system that this unwanted protein is present and triggers an immune reaction by the body against the tumor. The vaccine is administered in four doses, two weeks apart, followed by six-month booster doses.

Surgery and radiation were previously used for treatment of this type of cancer. The median survival time was extended from 150 days to 389 days for stage II cancer and from less than 90 days to 389 days with stage IV cancer.

The vaccine will be available through veterinary oncologists, or cancer specialists. What a breakthrough in the treatment of a devastating disease! Hopefully this is just the beginning of a line of similar therapies to stop cancer in its tracks. Cancer is the number 1 killer of dogs over the age of 2 and 25% of dogs die of cancer. Successful research like this is not only beneficial for our pets, but absolutely necessary.