Kangaroo bacteria fight cancer
*article pulled from ‘Stories of Australian Science’

Australia’s iconic kangaroo may hold the secret for the war on cancer. Assoc. Prof. Ming Wei from the Griffith Institute of Health and Medical Research is using commensal bacteria found in kangaroos to develop anti-cancer agents that are expected to be effective in combating solid tumours, which account for up to 90 percent of cancers.

The bacteria’s spore, injected into blood, can seek out a tumour mass and release special enzymes which soften the tumour. Ming says conventional therapies were unable to penetrate solid tumour mass, thus having a low success rate. “In the labs, we train the bacteria, so they develop their innate ability to colonise tumours, digesting them, and stimulating the body’s natural immune system,” he says. “The bacteria don’t need oxygen to multiply and they grow much faster than the tumour.”

Ming says the bacteria were also present in humans and soil but when in kangaroos they contained more protein-digesting enzymes. The theory was tested on tumours in mice, with a 30 to 45 per cent success rate. Clinical trials are expected to start in two years, where this novel approach will be applied together with anti-inflammatory therapy for best results.

Second Teen Arrested in Horse Killings

AOL News..
A second arrest has been made in a recent spate of gruesome killings of at least 19 horses in Florida.

According to the Miami Herald, Santiago Cabrera, 19, of Hialeah, Fla., was picked up by police on Monday night and charged with armed burglary, animal cruelty, killing a registered breed horse and breaking a fence.

Police said Cabrera confessed to helping butcher two live horses. Horse meat is sold on the black market for as much as $40 per pound, according to CNN.

Equine meat brings such high prices because some people believe that consuming it can cure diseases like cancer and AIDS.

Cabrera’s arrest follows that of 18-year-old Luis Miguel Cordero, who was picked up by police last week. Undercover police officers approached Cordero, who stands accused of killing a horse at Lazy L Ranch in North Maimi-Dade County, and offered him $2,000 to slaughter another horse. Cordero agreed and was promptly arrested, the paper said.

Animal protection groups such as the ASPCA point out that there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that eating horse meat helps fight AIDS or cancer. South Florida’s multicultural community, however, is made up of many residents who come from countries where it is customary to eat horse meat, CNN reported.

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/F/20033949.html

I am sharing this article above because I found it interesting. Well, not only that, but because this new cancer vaccine has a greater meaning to me…..it actually saved my dog “Big Ed”!  Could it actually helps humans one day too?

Let me tell you Ed’s story…

One day I happened to glance over at my 10 year old, 130 lb, rescued Rottweiler Ed, and noticed something in his cheek as he was panting. Upon further inspection, I noticed it was a growth of some sort. Because I am a worry wort, I called the vet and immediately brought him in to be checked out. The vet said it needed to be biopsied and we scheduled him within a few days to have it taken out and examined. All went well with it being removed, except for the fact that there were actually two of them in his mouth and both were taken out…..which meant to me…double the worry. Now the next step was waiting for the results.

Within a couple of days we heard back from the vet…sad news, Ed had cancer! After the realization sank in, we were determined to do everything we could for him as long as he was happy and ‘remained a dog’. We did not want him to suffer, but we wanted to explore every option for him. We got an appointment right away at a wonderful Oncology Vet here in Fairfield, CT.

After he had a chest x-ray, which came back clean thank goodness, and a lymph node biopsy, which also came back clean, we went over the options with the vet. We opted to go with this new cancer vaccine first. While very pricey, we felt the cancer was caught early and this was the most non-invasive form of treatment to begin with. First, however, the margins of the tumor removed were not large enough and Ed did have to go back in to our nrmal vet to have a little more of his cheek removed to make sure all of the unhealthy tissue/cells were gone. It was another quick procedure that healed nicely.

The cancer vaccine shots we chose to use were a series of 4 bi-weekly injections that were given via a needle-less delivery device…kind of like an air gun…it was shot through the pores of his skin. Every other week we took the 1.5 hour ride up to visit the special oncologist for this procedure and would trek back home hoping it was working. Ed didn’t seem to mind, and was just excited to go for rides in the car….oh, and he also loved the cheese that the oncologist gave him for his cooperation and best behavior

From what I understood, the cancer vaccine was actually made from actual melanoma cells in a lab that were treated so they could not divide and cause more tumors. This vaccine when given to the dog, makes his system build a resistance to the cells in the hopes that his body could fight any remaining cancer cells and help to not produce more.  They say there are no side effects to the dog, but we did notice that each time he got his shot, he would be mopey for a day….but then quickly back to normal. 

Through the series of shots, we all crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Several months after the final shot, Ed has been checked over by the vet and also had another chest x-ray done to make sure no cancer was in the lungs…..and he has gotten a clean bill of health!!! No more growths in the mouth and he is his chipper, hyper, big-lug self! How Amazing!! We could not have hoped for a better outcome and hope he has licked the cancer for good. Regular exams with our vet will keep us on top of things and if anything does ever come back, we are hoping to catch it as early as the first time…but hopefully there will be no more.

What an amazing thing science is! To the person or persons that came up with this vaccine, I personally thank you! And I do hope that in the future, soon, we have something like this that works for humans too! I know there will be a day……