Two years ago, when Dr. Laura Greene, DVM, DACVIM, Senior Professional Services Veterinarian for Merck Animal Health, spoke about immunotherapy as part of the ACCC Summer Webinar Series, she reported that eight checkpoint inhibitors had been approved by the FDA for cancer therapy in humans. Today, 14 different checkpoint inhibitor therapies are approved to treat over 20 different types of cancer in humans. Merck Animal Health has received a USDA conditional license for the checkpoint inhibitor drug, gilvetmab, for the treatment of mast cell tumors and melanoma in dogs.

The August session of the annual summer webinar series, “How to Navigate Through the Cancer Diagnosis” featured our own ACCC oncologist, Dr. Ashlyn Williams, who provided a detailed presentation about the importance of thorough blood testing. More than 70 primary care veterinarians from across Florida tuned in. “Blood serves a crucial role in helping us assess the overall health of a pet and map out an effective strategy for cancer treatment,” she emphasized at the outset of her talk.

Nearly 70 primary care veterinarians from across Florida and the country tuned in to listen to ACCC’s Jarred Lyons, DVM, Board-Certified in Radiation Oncology, discuss head and neck tumors in both dogs and cats. The presentation was part of the How to Navigate through the Cancer Diagnosis annual summer webinar series sponsored by Merck. A recording of his full talk is available here. Dr. Lyons explained at the outset that definitive research in veterinary oncology is limited; therefore, he stressed the importance of personal experience and evaluating each animal as a unique patient.