The Cancer Center at AVCC Is Excited to Offer Elias Cancer Immunotherapy
April 17, 2023
The Cancer Center at AVCC in Davie, FL is proud to offer ELIAS Animal Health’s ELIAS Cancer Immunotherapy (ECI®) treatment for Canine Osteosarcoma. This treatment option offers a complete new approach to canine osteosarcoma treatment. In offering ECI® to AVCC patients, we continue our promise to bring pets the very best and most advanced care available in veterinary medicine.
About Canine Osteosarcoma:
Approximately 85% of bone tumors in dogs are osteosarcomas. They are highly aggressive tumors, characterized by painful local bone destruction and proliferation. This type of cancer has a high chance of spreading to other organs. Osteosarcoma commonly affects the limbs of large or giant breed dogs (appendicular osteosarcoma). It can also occur in other parts of the skeleton (skull, ribs, vertebrae and pelvis).
Traditional Treatment for Canine Osteosarcoma:
The most common traditional treatment option is amputation surgery, followed by chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy is unlikely to cure most dogs with osteosarcoma, it can prolong quality survival time. Chemotherapy drugs often do not cure cancer, but rather control the cancer by killing cells and slowing progression of the tumor.
ELIAS Cancer Immunotherapy (ECI®):
ELIAS Animal Health’s ELIAS Cancer Immunotherapy (ECI®) is a patented vaccine-primed T cell immunotherapy available for the treatment of canine osteosarcoma. Cancer has many ways to hide from the patient’s immune system, which prevents the immune system from eliminating it. ECI works by stimulating the patient’s immune system to recognize cancer cells as “foreign” and subsequently eliminate them.
How Does ECI Work?
- Cells from your dog’s cancer are surgically removed and used to create a pre-treatment vaccine that is specific to the individual cancer.
- When your dog receives the vaccines, their immune system is triggered to generate cancer-specific T cells.
- These T cells are then collected from your dog in much the same way you would donate blood and platelets through a method called apheresis.
- The collected T cells are then “activated” in the ELIAS laboratory to generate a large population of personalized “killer” T cells, which are then infused back into your dog intravenously. Once inside the body, this army of killer T cells travel to the cancer to attack and eliminate it.
The combination of vaccination and T cell immunotherapy is what makes ECI different from any other treatment option. Each step of the ECI process is necessary to produce the kind of immune response that can identify and attack cancer cells.
The ECI® clinical trial showed this therapy is overall safe, tolerable and may improve clinical outcomes. A recent ECI® clinical trial showed prolonged median survival times when compared to historical reports (surgery and chemotherapy).
*ECI® is an experimental autologous prescription product available for sale to veterinarians under 9 CFR 103.3. Safety and efficacy have not been established.
Is My Dog Eligible for ECI?
The best candidates for ECI are dogs with newly diagnosed appendicular osteosarcoma, who have no signs of metastatic disease at diagnosis and who are in otherwise generally good health. The affected limb should not be amputated prior to an evaluation by an ECI-trained oncologist. If ECI is selected as the preferred course of treatment, the affected limb will be amputated and the tumor tissue collected at the time of surgery.
Learn More and Contact Us:
The Cancer Center at AVCC and Advanced Veterinary Care Center are located in South Florida in Broward County.
For more information about ELIAS Cancer Immunotherapy visit: https://eliasanimalhealth.com/pet-owners/
You can also contact The Cancer Center at AVCC at 954-500-VETS (8387).
The Cancer Center at AVCC
Advanced Veterinary Care Center
8920 W. State Road 84,
Davie, Florida 33324
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