Focused Ultrasound Clinical Trial Recognized at Annual Veterinary Meeting

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Key Points

  • A Foundation-funded project earned a clinical science award at the recent Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) annual meeting.
  • The team at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is exploring focused ultrasound-induced histotripsy to treat sarcomas in canines.

Ester Yang, VMD, presented preliminary data from a study using histotripsy to treat soft tissue sarcomas in client-owned canines at the recent Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) annual meeting, where she earned the resident poster clinical science award. Dr. Yang is the first resident in the history of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Medical Oncology program to receive this award and has been invited to present this work at the annual American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum in June 2022.

The project, funded through the Foundation’s veterinary program, is using a form of focused ultrasound called histotripsy to mechanically destroy sarcomas in client-owned dogs. The research team, led by Shawna Klahn, DVM, is evaluating the safety and feasibility of the procedure and monitoring the dogs’ immune response to the treatment.

“Veterinary clinical trials represent a powerful intermediate step between preclinical work and human clinical trials, offering the ability to obtain data in naturally occurring tumors while also benefitting canine patients and their owners,” said the Foundation’s Veterinary Medicine Program Director, Kelsie Timbie, PhD.

To learn more, please visit the Foundation’s Veterinary Program page.