New Tumour Vaccine…

Riverside Vets are the first Scottish vets practice to offer a pioneering new tumour treatment

It’s a sad fact that cancer is as common a disease for our pets as it is in humans. One in two dogs over the age of ten will develop cancer, and whilst cats are statistically less likely to suffer from the disease, feline forms of cancer are generally more aggressive than those in canines. Dealing with cancer in a beloved pet can be as heart-breaking as with a human friend, and vets are dedicated to doing all they can in the fight against cancer in all its forms.

Here at Riverside Vets we are really excited to have become the first practice in Scotland to offer a revolutionary vaccine that treats tumours in dogs, cats and horses. The vaccine, called “PetBioCell”, is a state-of-the-art treatment from Germany which offers an exciting new method of fighting cancer in animals.

The procedure is known as dendritic cell therapy, and whilst it has been used by vets in its country of origin for a number of years, it has only recently been made available outside Germany.

Our co-director, Mandy Clarkson, is excited about what BioPetCell could mean for tumour treatment at Riverside Vets. She comments: “Anything that offers an effective option for pets suffering from cancer is a big positive. PetBioCell provides another route to recovery when an operation or chemotherapy is not possible to treat a tumour”.

Dendritic cell therapy is an ingenious treatment that utilises the animal’s own immune system to effectively fight the tumour. White blood cells in the patient’s bloodstream have specialised proteins added to them, which allows them to recognise and destroy the cancerous cells present.

The vaccine only takes around a week to produce, and can be done either with or without tumour tissue from the animal. The treatment itself is a series of three vaccinations given four weeks apart.

“One of the best parts of this new treatment is that the side effects are temporary, minimal and only rarely occur”, says Mandy. “This cuts down on the stress levels for both the pet and their owner compared to the experience of chemotherapy and surgical procedures”.

Riverside Vets are very proud to bring dendritic cell therapy to Scotland through PetBioCell. We hope to make a difference to the lives of pets and their owners who might otherwise have had few options for treatment.

For more information about anything you have read in this post, please speak to a friendly member of the Riverside Vets team.