The standard animal model for testing new cancer treatments is the mouse. However, a new study focused on canines with advanced bone cancer, with positive results.

Researchers from the University of Illinois tested a bone cancer drug delivery system in canines with naturally occurring bone cancers.

Despite the advanced stage of the disease in the dogs, the particles homed in on tumor sites, thanks to a coating of the drug pamidronate, which preferentially binds to degraded sites in bone. The nanoparticles also showed anti-cancer activity. 

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 13.

The dogs used in the study were companion animals with advanced bone cancer, and weighed between 88 and 132 pounds. The dogs tolerated the highest planned doses of cancer-drug-laden nanoparticles with no signs of toxicity.

Photo credit: © iStock/Olga Reukova