Just a few months ago, Cayennes situation looked bleak. Malnourished, abused and declared terminally ill with a baseball-size tumor, the young pit bull terrier was considered un-adoptable.
When Madison County Animal Control recovered Cayenne, they called Partners for Pets in disbelief. After Partners for Pets representatives rushed her to Horseshoe Lake Animal Hospital in Collinsville, they called urgent care foster parent Mandy Marquis and told her it would likely be a hospice care situation.
When they found Cayenne, she was just 23 or 24 pounds, and probably just used for breeding purposes, Marquis says. Within a month of care, she was up to 50 pounds.
After taking Cayenne to the University of Missouri in Columbia for CT Scans, Marquis was given disheartening news: She was diagnosed with squamous-cell carcinoma, which is a rare and terminal cancer for both humans and animals.
The cancer had traveled into the tongue and lymph nodes. Cayenne was given only a couple of weeks to live.
Marquis saw something beyond the unspeakable neglect and devastating diagnosis.
Id never seen a dog with such a will to live before, she said. She was so full of life, despite everything.
Following Partners for Pets mantra of no animal left behind, Marquis began researching her options. She stumbled across HylaPharm, a chemotherapy development company and spin-off of the University of Kansas.
They just happened to be accepting dogs for trials, Marquis says. After I contacted them, they called back within two hours.
With social media buzz and the outpouring of community support, Partners for Pets 29,000 Facebook followers received news thats nothing short of miraculous: Cayenne, once thought to be terminal with both squamous-cell carcinoma and an unrelated diagnosis of blastoma after jaw pathology was completely cancer-free.
This joyful news, a breakthrough in cancer treatment, is being celebrated in both the Metro East and a few hundred miles westbound. HylaPharms patented HylaPlat was used to treat Cayennes carcinoma. Marquis made the drive to Kansas every third Friday an 18-hour journey for Cayennes injections.
There were no side effects, and a week after she started chemo, the mass starting falling out, Marquis says.
Dr. Shuang Cai, lab director at HylaPharm, says Cayennes tumor was one of the largest shed ever seen and is confident that the treatment, which involved four direct injections into the tumor, will serve as a bright and revolutionary moment in cancer treatment technology.
HylaPlat, which stemmed from a university project started in 2007, has gone through several stages of development over six years.
It started as the brainchild of chemist Laird Forrest and his team, says Dan Aires, CEO of HylaPharm and director of the Division of Dermatology at the University of Kansas. The spin-off company began in 2010, and our current team has been in place since 2011.
Aires says to understand how HylaPlat works, it would be best to think of the treatment as a cancer therapy burrito.
Hyaluronan, a long, squishy sugar found in both dog and human bodies, coats the outside while a traditional cancer therapy such as Cisplatin is contained within, Aires said. Cancer stem cells, which cause cancer to metastasize, tend to have the highest hyaluronan receptors, which allows the treatment to act kind of like a Trojan horse.
Aires explains Cayennes story is ideal in helping advance research into non-operable head and neck cancers, localized non-operable triple-negative breast cancer and cancers with lesions in bad operating areas, such as lung or colon cancer.
Were hoping to be able to do human research in about two years, Aires says.
Its literally like a movie, Marquis quips. From the pound to beating cancer.
Marquis is incredibly grateful for the financial and moral support of both the community who raised every penny for Cayennes operation and HylaPharm, who she lauds as being incredible to work with.
We made our $5,000 goal for Cayennes jaw removal in just a few days, Marquis said. I have to thank the May Team at Caldwell Banker Brown Realtors for matching each $1,000 donation and being her sponsors. HylaPharm also provided all of the chemo free of charge, as well as the hospital care at State Line Animal Hospital in Leawood, Kansas.
Marquis says showcasing Cayennes incredible story on Partners for Pets Facebook page and on YouTube as Cayennes Crusade sparked public interest and showed thousands of people theres always a reason for optimism in the face of adversity.
A lot of people thought she couldnt eat with her tumor, which was so far from the truth, Marquis said. The YouTube videos and Facebook photos showed people that she was a healthy, life-loving puppy with a cancerous mass, and that really moved a lot of people to action.
Cayenne is recovering from a Dec. 30 jaw removal surgery with antibiotics and pain medication to ensure everything heals properly. Just a week after the surgery, on Jan. 6, Marquis learned from the University of Missouri that all margins of the jaw removal were 100 percent cancer-free. Within a couple of weeks, shell be ready for adoption.
It pains me to let go of her after spending so many sleepless nights, but I know shes going to a great home, Marquis says.
Matty McKee, a veterinary technician at Horseshoe Lake Animal Hospital, has followed Cayennes journey from the beginning and begged Marquis for the opportunity to adopt her.
He texts and asks how shes doing every day, Marquis said.
With a cold reality looming over Partners for Pets that theres always another dog tomorrow Marquis knows it wouldnt be right to hold onto Cayenne forever. As a travel buddy, workplace companion and loving inspiration, Marquis is confident Cayennes journey will continue onward with same resilient drive that helped her defeat terminal cancer.
partnersforpetsil.org
facebook.com/partners4pets
hylapharm.com
youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7FTE2aShQ
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