PETS: New lease of life for pets with cancer
Scientists have given new hope to animals stricken by cancer by unveiling plans to build Europe’s biggest cancer treatment centre for pets.
The move offers the chance of a cure for animals that would once have been put down. Now devoted pet-owners who can afford between £500 and £4,000 can look forward to being able to get their dog, cat, rabbit or ferret treated at the new centre within a week.
The £3m Veterinary Cancer Centre at the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh University, is expected to treat up to 20 cases a week of animal cancer, a disease which accounts for up to a quarter of deaths in household pets.
Specialists at the Royal Dick currently offer a limited cancer service, including diagnosis and chemotherapy. But this is to be expanded at its site at Easter Bush,
Improvements in vaccinations mean pets are living longer and are more likely to suffer from diseases that affect older animals, including cancer, which can kill in weeks. Once it strikes, the condition can be particularly aggressive and fast-growing and can kill within a matter of weeks. But new methods of diagnosis and treatment are becoming increasingly common and vets at the centre believe they can offer animals treatments which can prolong their lives without causing undue suffering.
Although the cost of treatment can run into thousands of pounds, depending on the severity of the cancer, many pet insurance policies will cover the treatment and 40% of cases can be cured.
David Argyle, professor of clinical studies at the Royal Dick, said he has already treated dogs, cats, rabbits and ferrets with cancer and expects hundreds more will benefit from the new development.
He said: “We work on the whole range of cancers, including bone cancer, skin cancer and lymphoma. Once the centre is open we will offer everything from chemotherapy to surgery. During treatment dogs and cats should have a normal quality of life. We use the same drugs as doctors use on humans, only in smaller doses.”
Argyle added: “We would not expect owners to pay for the treatment unless there was a good chance of long-term survival. We are trying to get two or three years of good quality of life. The clinical team will make that decision.”
Maximum waits for treatment for animals suspected of having cancer will be one week, compared with eight weeks for NHS treatment for humans. Argyle added: “A lymphoma in a dog can be fatal within four weeks so we can’t have waiting times in oncology. “The sooner an animal is treated, the better.”
Currently around nine new cases of animals with cancer are seen at the Royal Dick each week but that is expected to double when the new centre is built. Some equipment will also be able to scan large animals, such as horses, which often suffer from inflammatory and dental diseases. The new equipment will include a linear accelerator, which delivers radiation to a cancer tumour.
It will also have its own computerised tomography (CT) scanner which gives a very detailed X-ray of the tissues inside the body and a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, which shows how body tissues are working. Argyle also said research at the centre could help tell scientists more about cancer in humans.
He added: “They are a very good model with which to study human cancers because they suffer from equivalent cancers. So we can develop new therapies which can be used on humans.”
The cost of the centre is being met from Edinburgh University funds but the service, once fully up and running, is expected to pay for itself from charges to pet owners. The move was yesterday welcomed by animal welfare campaigners. But medical ethicists warned against extending the life of a pet if it involved any suffering.
Libby Anderson, political director of the animal welfare organisation Advocates for Animals, told Scotland on Sunday she welcomed the new development but said owners had to take responsibility for their pets at the end of as well as during their lifetimes. She said: “Owners have to balance the invasive nature of the treatment and any possible suffering and try to put the animal’s needs first. That has to be the motive, because the animal does not have a choice and we are all going to die one day, animals included.”
