sitting-grass-two-beautiful-golden-retriever-dogs-have-walk-outdoors-park-together.jpg

CANCER PREVENTION

SIGN + DONATE + VOLUNTEER

PREVENTING CANCER

Is Preventing Cancer in Canines & Humans Possible?

Today, 90% of cancer clinical treatments, expenditures, and research are allocated to late-stage cancer. Unfortunately, while many extoll the adage about an ounce of prevention, trying (and failing) to treat cancer remains at the core of the battle against the disease.

There are several reasons why late-stage tumors are incredibly difficult to defeat:

By this stage, there are already billions of tumor cells.
Typically, the tumors have had years to develop an immunosuppressive environment.
And because of these, the hosts’ immune systems are often compromised at this point.

For the better part of 50 years, cancer treatment has been an uphill battle that has kept the world, the afflicted, and their loved ones on the back foot. As cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, it’s increasingly evident that we need fundamentally new approaches to finally and permanently put the prospect of cancer in our past.

Keep reading to explore a bold new approach that deconstructs cancer treatment and learn how developing a cancer vaccine for dogs may hold the key to cancer prevention.

Pouncing on Prevention

To truly have a chance at putting cancer in humanity’s rearview mirror, we must embrace new methodologies and ways of thinking. Fortunately, the work has already begun. EndCancer.org supports Calviri, a fully-integrated biotech startup in the fifth year of the world’s largest clinical trial to test a vaccine designed to prevent cancer in dogs.

And the early returns have been promising. According to Calviri Founder and CEO Stephen Johnston, cancer incidence in dogs that had an immune response to the vaccine was significantly lower than in non-vaccinated participants. The trials also surfaced unexpected results, with vaccinated dogs having markedly lower incidences of arthritis, heart disease, dementia, and other chronic diseases.

Building on the positive momentum of the trials, Calviri researchers are also investigating therapeutic vaccines for three other cancer types:

Canine Hemangiosarcoma: A highly aggressive and invasive cancer commonly found in older dogs’ spleens, hearts, livers, and skin
Human Renal Medullary Carcinoma (RMC): A rare yet aggressive type of kidney cancer
Human Neurofibromatosis: A pediatric brain cancer that causes tumors in nerve tissues

And because early diagnosis remains a critical element of Calviri’s quest to end cancer, researchers are also working on improved diagnostics for multiple types of cancers, including:

Stage 1 breast cancer
Stage 1 colorectal cancer
ICI (Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors) response and adverse events predictors for lung cancer

Calviri has imposed itself at the center of cancer research, marrying the interconnected elements of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to develop a vaccine that could potentially end all cancer-related suffering forever. And when that day comes, we’ll have our four-legged friends to thank.

Over 800 dogs and their willing pet parents volunteered to be part of the Vaccine Against Canine Cancer Study (VACCS). After five years of testing, the experimental vaccine has shown no adverse effects.

EndCancer.org is looking for petition volunteers to advocate USDA approval for the first and only vaccine preventing cancer in dogs. By getting involved, you’re helping shape a future where cancer is no longer a formidable threat to our beloved pets.

Rethinking The Approach to Cancer

The promising vaccine trials resulted from the pivot to viewing cancer from the treatment lens to one focused on prevention. To guide this paradigm shift, Calviri took inspiration from the question: What would you need to make a preventive cancer vaccine?

Find something tumors make that is foreign to the immune system
Find something shared between different tumor types and patients
Administer the vaccine before the tumor develops

Calviri’s discovery of RNA-error derived neoantigens (REDN) – proteins tumors need to survive – is central to this unique approach. For the longest time, scientists have been studying DNA error-encoded neoantigens, which are generally personal and infrequent. In contrast, REDNs are shared by various tumor cells and produced over a hundred times more frequently.

Essentially, tumors create these neoantigenes to survive in the body. Meanwhile, mutations to these – known as frameshift neoantigens – serve as biomarkers, enabling the immune system to recognize these as foreign elements and trigger an immune response against cancer cells as they develop. Calviri’s experimental vaccine focuses on 31 REDNs shared across eight major canine cancers, prearming the animals’ immune systems to identify tumors and kill them.

Cancer prevention is within our midst, and it starts with preventing cancer in dogs. To support the cause, you can course your cancer research donations through EndCancer.org.

Human Cancer Prevention – The Holy Grail

Fueled by its innovative science and research, Calviri is detecting, measuring, and evaluating the utility of these neoantigens in humans. By querying a small amount of a patient’s blood that contains antibodies on microchips with all possible variants, they can identify which biomarkers are generated by that particular person, as well as which ones are recognized by their immune system.

This groundbreaking technology has enabled Calviri to simultaneously explore the development of an antibody-based blood test and vaccine to detect and treat various Stage 1 cancers. While optimistic, Calviri Director of Production Terrence O’Neil understands there’s work to be done, sharing, “The holy grail is to produce preventative and therapeutic vaccines, thereby ending deaths from cancer.”

Some personalities from the medical field have cautioned against promising the public something science cannot yet deliver. But to expect different results requires the audacity to challenge the long-held norms, the brazenness to look at this terrible human affliction not as an inevitable reality of life but as a scientific challenge we can solve and overcome.

Talk to your friends and family about these exciting possibilities. If our cause resonates with you, you can donate, volunteer, or support the fight against cancer by purchasing EndCancer merchandise.

SO,

WHAT'S NEXT?

Scientists have been able to eradicate dozens of debilitating diseases over the years through research and innovation. It’s only a matter of time before the same thing happens to cancer.

We need your help to achieve our mission. Every dollar we receive brings us one step closer to wiping out cancer. Show your support with our petition, End Cancer merchandise or donate to end cancer.