These Dogs Are Getting A Cancer Vaccine. If It Works Humans Could Be Next

(CNN) Bronte Lord and Jacque Smith June 24 2019 11:28 AM If you ask most experts in the cancer community creating a wide-ranging vaccine that prevents tumors like we prevent infectious diseases is damn near impossible. The idea may be tantalizing but study after study over the past several decades has taught doctors that cancer is personal. Everyones looks different on a molecular level. And each tumor is an agile devious adversary that mutates as it grows to outwit the human immune system. They may be right Stephen Johnston says but if the chance is 10 that it might work I cant see any reason why we shouldnt take that chance. Johnston isnt an oncologist. Hes a scientist inventor and director of Arizona State Universitys Center for Innovations in Medicine. He recently launched a clinical trial to test a cancer vaccine in hundreds of dogs across the country. The trial will examine whether the vaccine delays or prevents a variety of cancers in healthy older dogs. If its successful Johnston says it could lay the groundwork for developing a similar vaccine for humans. Why dogs? Johnston initially wanted to test the vaccine in humans but the cost and approval process were proving to be major roadblocks. Then Johnston met veterinarian Doug Thamm. Thamm is a cancer survivor and director of clinical research at Colorado State Universitys Flint Animal Cancer Center.Cancer is actually the leading cause of death in adult dogs Thamm says. They develop these tumors spontaneously as a result of old age in a way thats very very similar to the way humans do.