Hi everyone,
I have a few important updates to share—an upcoming webinar, new research insights, and a special giving opportunity that will help accelerate lifesaving work for dogs with cancer.

 

📅 Upcoming Webinar (Dec 11): Early Detection & Cancer Monitoring

Finding cancer early—and knowing whether treatment is working—remains one of the biggest challenges families face. 

 

Too many dogs are diagnosed only after the disease has already progressed, which was true for our two-year-old Hanako, whose cancer was at an advanced stage by the time she showed any symptoms.

And even if treatment is possible, we often endure long waits between scans and tests, hoping that the treatment is working and that there is no recurrence.

 

Just a few weeks ago, a family reached out after their dog finished chemo treatment for lymphoma. He was in remission and was doing great, but they were scared.
“We feel like we’re waiting in the dark,” they said.
That fear is incredibly common - and it’s exactly why better detection and monitoring tools are needed.  

 

Liquid biopsy, a simple new blood test that detects circulating tumor DNA, may offer a new way forward.

 

Join our upcoming live webinar on Dec 11th to learn how this test works and how it might help:

The speaker is Dr. Maciej Parys, the founder of Cancan Diagnostics and a researcher at the University of Edinburgh.  Reserve your spot.

🕒 New Insight: Circadian clock can be leveraged to enhance cancer immunotherapy

 

Our immune system follows a 24-hour circadian rhythm, and new research shows these natural cycles can affect how well immunotherapy works. 

 

Studies in human patients have found that immune cells inside tumors - and their response to treatment - can vary dramatically across the day.

In one study involving patients with metastatic melanoma, overall survival was strikingly higher in the AM group, in which the majority of treatments occurred before 2pm, compared with the PM group (after 2pm).   

 

Honestly, I was surprised by the strong contrast in the Kaplan-Meier survival curves for the two groups! (see below) .  The yellow dotted line shows the survival curve for the AM group!

Median survival in the AM group was 38 months, compared with 14 months in the PM group.   

 

A similar contrast was also observed across many cancer types. To learn more, read our full article, which goes into detail about the impact the difference can have.

 

Could the efficacy of vaccines and other immunotherapy treatments for dogs also be enhanced by choosing earlier in the day treatment times?  No studies have been conducted with canine patients. And the human studies are mostly based on immune checkpoint inhibitor treatments.  

 

Still, the biological rationale is strong.

 

 

We’re grateful to share that a CCA board member is matching every gift 1:1—up to $40,000 this month. Your support helps fund clinical studies, expand scientific collaborations, and bring promising treatment options closer to the dogs who need them most. We’re incredibly grateful for everyone who contributes to this work.

We’re thrilled to share that this is the first year that Canine Cancer Alliance is part of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). If you’re a federal employee or military personnel, you can support our mission through simple payroll deduction.  Please look for Canine Cancer Research Alliance (our official name) and CFC ID: 10453

 

Thank you for spreading the word to friends and colleagues in federal service.

 

 

 

 

Mari

 

Mari Maeda PhD

Canine Cancer Alliance