Dog given less than 6 months to live cured of cancer after clinical trial

The Brief Lola, a 9-year-old golden retriever, was diagnosed with oral melanoma that spread to her lungs. At the time of diagnosis, she was given just six months to live. A clinical trial testing cancer-fighting drugs that are inhaled helped Lola beat her cancer.

A 9-year-old golden retriever is now cancer free thanks to a novel treatment that is currently in clinical trials.

"I don’t know how to express how grateful we are for allowing Lola to be in the trial and for all the care she’s received at UC Davis," Allison Roth, Lola’s owner, said.

Side-by-sid images of Lola celebrating being cancer free and at the UC Davis Arboretum. (UC Davis/Allison Roth)

Lola was diagnosed with oral melanoma and it had rapidly spread to her lungs.

At that point, she was given less than six months to live.

Following her dire prognosis, Lola’s vet referred her to the Oncology Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for possible treatment options.

"When Lola was a puppy, I was treated for a brain tumor at the Mayo Clinic," said Roth. "Through my multiple brain surgeries, she was always by my side. When it came time for her cancer treatments, I was thrilled that she would be treated at UC Davis – what I would call the ‘Mayo Clinic for dogs.’"

Lola was enrolled in a study that involved immunotherapy treatments through inhaling cancer-fighting drugs called IL-15.

She didn’t respond well to the treatment during the beginning of the trial and eventually had to be dropped because her tumors began to grow even more.

Roth then enrolled Lola to receive radiation therapy, and though it was able to shrink the tumor inside her mouth, x-rays showed continued tumor growth in her lungs.

Before and after images of Lola's lungs. (UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine)

"We thought we were going to lose her that summer," Roth said. "But she hung on all summer, and we did another x-ray in September. All her tumors were gone. No one could believe it. Essentially, Lola had experienced a delayed response to the IL-15 trial."

"In people, immunotherapies can sometimes result in inflammation of tumors, making them appear larger before they shrink," said Drs. Robert Rebhun (co-principal investigator of the trial). "This is termed ‘pseudoprogression,’ and it appears to have happened with Lola."

Lola has now been cancer free for two years. She still gets regular check-ups at UC Davis, but so far, none of her tumors have returned.