The Food & Drug Administration approves new cancer drug for dogs: Whilst conducting medical trials, the drug called Palladia or toceranib phosphate, has been found to reduce cutaneous mast-cell tumours better than a placebo alternative.

These mast-cell tumours are responsible for one-in-five skin tumours found in dogs, which are often found as lumps on the skin but can be spread to other places. These are the second most common form of the 1.2 million cases of cancer reported each year in dogs.

Vets have been treating dogs for cancer for years but have mainly used chemotherapy drugs developed for humans and have never rigorously tested on dogs.

The Food & Drug Administration are out to prove Palladia’s effectiveness in canines and at the end of trials presented to the FDA 60% of dogs treated with the drug had their skin tumours shrink, disappear or stop growing.

These results were according to a news release from Pfizer Animal Health, the makers of Palladia.

The newspaper reports that the vice president of Pfizer Animal Health, George Fennell said that Palladia won’t be available in vets until 2010. He said that until then any dog owner’s should discuss treatments with their vet who may refer their dog to a specialist for treatment with Palladia.

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