CSU Animal Cancer Center

04/02/2026

Congrats, Dr. Dow! 👏

We're proud to say one of our own, Dr. Steven Dow, has been named a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor – an honor based on the highest level of achievement in teaching, research, and service, an achievement that has been recognized nationally and internationally.

Read more: https://source.colostate.edu/csu-announces-six-new-university-distinguished-professors

04/02/2026

Collaborating for a Cure! 🔬

Last week, we hosted our quarterly Research Grand Rounds event. A dedicated time for FACC researchers and clinicians to come together to share research progress and brainstorm new ideas.

The theme of the event was: Osteosarcoma: Kids and Dogs Helping Each Other for a Better Outcome.

Dr. Leibowitz, from CU Anschutz’s School of Medicine’s Specialty Department of Pediatrics-Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, spoke about CAR-T Cell Therapy for Pediatric Osteosarcoma.

Drs. Worley and Gustafson also spoke about their work in this cancer type.

04/01/2026

🔬 Important Research Update from the Flint Animal Cancer Center 🔬

Today, we’re thrilled to announce a very important new study designed to answer one of the biggest questions in veterinary oncology:

🐶 Can dogs help accelerate cancer research?

Early results are extremely promising. Our team has documented that:
• Dogs increase “lab morale” by 500% simply by entering the room
• Keyboards become 100% more fur-covered during critical data analysis when dogs are around
• Several dog researchers have communicated that the correct treatment protocol includes snacks, walks, and more snacks

While we’re still working on translating these findings into clinical trials, our canine collaborators remain very committed to the project – especially if treats are involved.

Thank you to all the very good research assistants who continue to support our mission (mostly by supervising from the nearest comfy chair).

Happy April Fools from all of us at the Flint Animal Cancer Center! 🐾

All jokes aside, dogs DO contribute a great deal to cancer research. Learn more: https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/our-story/

03/31/2026

Happy Clinical Trials Tuesday! Our trial for dogs with bone cancer of the limb who plan to pursue palliative radiation therapy is still open for enrollment. All dogs will receive radiation treatment and then will be randomized to receive either a chemotherapy drug, a drug that slows bone breakdown, or a placebo. The goal of this study is to determine if these treatments provide an additional benefit in pain control. You can read more about this study here: https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/palliative-radiation-therapy-with-or-without-bisphosphonates-or-carboplatin-for-dogs-with-osteosarcoma/

Patient Disease: Canine Osteosarcoma Study Name: Palliative Radiation Therapy With or Without Bisphosphonates or Carboplatin for Dogs with Osteosarcoma Purpose of the study: Primary Eligibility Criteria: Study Protocol: Owner Responsibilities: Financial Incentives: If you have further questions abou...

03/30/2026

Beating Bone Cancer: The Quest to Cure Osteosarcoma 🔬 🦴

As you might remember, Dr. Dan Regan, the PI of the Investigational Pathology Lab at the Flint Animal Cancer Center, and his team are on a mission to end bone cancer in pets and children. This losartan study is still underway and has made promising steps in recent months.

Their work started with bone cancer clinical trials in dogs at the FACC. The goal of this medication combination is to prevent the bone cancer from spreading to the lungs. The promise of their results spurred human clincial trials in children fighting this awful disease. This human clinical trial is the first vet-med-funded study, thanks to your support of One Cure.

In late 2025, a fourth recruitment site for this multi-site nationwide trial was added to the study. In January, they enrolled the 9th patient in the trial.

The study is broken up into a 3x3 design, meaning there are three patients at every dose level cohort with three dosing levels. Each cohort gets a higher dose, bringing patients to the necessary medication level to affect real progress in the fight against the disease. This patient is the final enrollee of the highest dose cohort.

This patient is doing well and will return to the hospital soon to see if this medication combination, at this dosage, is safe and has been able to stabilize or reduce the amount of metastasis from their osteosarcoma.

Since this patient marks the end of this specific dosage cohort, the study will be placed on a brief but standard hold to run a safety analysis and process all data derived from patients up to this point.

What we learn during the study break will inform our next step in the trial. These decisions should be made in the next few months. The team could expand the patient numbers in the last dose cohort or escalate the dosage and open a new cohort.

To date, the data we have is very promising. These studies show that the team has hit their target, decreasing the amount of metastasis of osteosarcoma and helping to increase good immune cells (T cells) in the blood. In the coming years, we'll work to find the dosage level that makes a consistent difference in slowing or stopping osteosarcoma from moving from bones to the lungs.

With your support, we're making real progress in the fight against osteosarcoma for pets and people!

03/28/2026

You make a world of difference! 🌎️

Thanks to our generous donors, 117 patient assistance grants were awarded in 2025. The grants totaled $210,355.21 in cancer care.

Your gift to our patient assistance grants ensures pets receive the cancer care they need. These grants ease financial burdens for families and give more animals access to treatment. Thank you for making this compassionate care possible.

Give the gift of care: https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/give-to-patient-assistance/

03/27/2026

Innovation in Action: A Promising New Treatment for Lymphoma ❤️

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in dogs. Injectable multi-drug chemotherapy remains the standard of care and is associated with high response rates and meaningful prolongation of life. However, this treatment protocol is hard to administer due to the nature of the special handling required for these drugs. To increase access to treatment for this common cancer among rural and general veterinarians, we're testing a new treatment protocol with a combination of four drugs that do not require any special handling.

To date, 30 dogs have been enrolled in the study. Of those dogs, 97% have experienced meaningful disease improvement, and 13 dogs have reached the 3-month follow-up without disease progression, which is when the primary determination of effectiveness is made.

Two dogs enrolled in the study – Ziggy (hearts) and Buddy (birthday hat) – have done remarkably well in this study. They were both diagnosed in early 2023 and are still alive and well following this treatment protocol.

The hope is this treatment protocol can become widely available to all vets, making it easier to beat – and cure – lymphoma!

03/26/2026

Dogs have the power to heal! ❤️ 🐾

The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes aired a segment on March 22 highlighting Colorado State University research into dementia in dogs as a way to better understand and potentially treat neurodegenerative disorders in both dogs and people.

The show introduced millions of viewers to translational medicine – research in companion animals that provides insights relevant to multiple species.

Watch here ➡️

The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes aired a segment highlighting Colorado State University research into dementia in dogs as a way to better understand and potentially treat neurodegenerative disorders in both dogs and people.

03/25/2026

Boards? Passed! 🎯

We send huge congratulations to Drs. Bella Hildebrandt and Jenn Rodriguez-Diaz on successfully passing their final surgical board exams. We welcome them as newly minted Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, Small Animal Surgery!

This is a huge milestone for any surgically minded veterinarian, full of tough competition, tears, sweat, grit, and satisfying tribulations over many years.

Way to go!

03/24/2026

Happy Clinical Trials Tuesday! We have a clinical trial for dogs with bone cancer of the leg that will undergo limb amputation and chemotherapy. We normally wait to start chemotherapy until two weeks after amputation surgery, but this study is evaluating whether dogs have better outcomes if chemotherapy is started the day after surgery. Visit our website to learn more! https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/clinical-trial/expediated-carboplatin-for-treatment-of-osteosarcoma-in-dogs/

This study for osteosarcoma in dogs is designed to study if there is a survival benefit when adjuvant chemotherapy is started earlier.

03/23/2026

Powering research around the globe! 🌎️

Under the guidance of Dr. Susan Lana, the Flint Animal Cancer Center Biorepository is a dedicated facility for accumulating, curating, and storing samples from patients with cancer. The biorepository stores approximately 35,000 samples used for research projects at the FACC and around the world.

In 2025, the FACC biorepository supported 35 internal research projects with samples and added an additional 1,682 new samples to the bank to be used in future projects.

Learn more about the work of the biorepository: https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/biorepository/

03/21/2026

One Cure: Advancing Cancer Care, One Clinical Trial at a Time 🔬🐾

One Cancer. One Cure.

At the Flint Animal Cancer Center, we’ve learned something important: cancer is cancer.
This year, millions of pets and people will get cancer. Our cancers are the same, down to the cellular level.

This means what works for our pets could work for humans. We're on a mission to conquer cancer in all species.

Learn more about the work of One Cure and support our mission here: https://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/about-one-cure/