CSU Animal Cancer Center Clinical Trial

Patient Disease:
Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Study Name:
Stereotactic radiation therapy for feline oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose of the study:
Treatment of this disease with surgery, chemotherapy or conventional radiation therapy has not been successful. Technological advances in radiation therapy over the past ten years have greatly improved the treatment outcome for many tumor types. Stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) uses computerized treatment planning and computer guided multileaf collimators to sculpt the radiation dose to tumors. This allows the dose to normal tissues to be reduced so that treatment can be delivered more safely and rapidly. Treatment outcome has not been evaluated in feline oral SCC. However, SRT has been used in a limited number of feline SCC patients and has been well tolerated. Measurements of tumor oxygen levels will be taken on your cat prior to treatment. This is done by inserting a small probe into the tumor while your cat is under anesthesia prior to treatment.

Molecular histopathology will be done on the biopsy sample that was used for the initial diagnosis. (If this biopsy is not available from the histology lab, then another biopsy will have to be obtained).  Molecular histopathology will give us information specific to you cat regarding the rate of tumor cell proliferation, blood vessel development and factors associated with low tumor oxygen levels. This will help characterize these tumors and give direction to future protocol development. We hope to advance our knowledge of these difficult tumors and improve quality of life for your cat and other cats. This proposal is not using these cats as models for human disease, but rather applying the latest techniques being investigated in humans for the benefit of cats.

Patient Entry Criteria:
Patients with biopsy confirmed oral squamous cell carcinomas may be eligible. All patients must receive a diagnostic evaluation prior to admission that includes a complete blood count, serum chemistry, urinalysis, thoracic radiographs and any additional staging procedures deemed appropriate.

Owner Responsibilities:
The owner is expected to make and keep all appointments according to the study protocol. The owner is financially responsible for all charges associated with staging tests that the oncology clinician recommends. The owners are responsible for exam fees, hospitalization, biosecurity fees and miscellaneous medications.

As with all studies at CSU, we have designed this study with the hope of helping your cat. But we seek owners who are also committed to completing the study protocol and to helping us understand this devastating disease.

Financial Incentives:
The client will pay $1000 towards staging and treatment. The CSU Animal Cancer Center and Morris Animal Foundation will pay for the anesthesia and CT or PET-CT scan, radiation treatment planning, the stereotactic radiation therapy and the scheduled follow up visits.  The study will not pay for blood work, procedures, drugs or miscellaneous items not directly related to the study and treatment. We will also pay for up to $500 for the treatment of any complications directly related to the treatment.

Please contact our Consultation Coordinator at (970) 297-4195 if you are interested in learning more about clinical trials.