One day, a dog called Scout may save your child’s life.
It is not an extension. In fact, this possibility has become a reality thanks to a bold new approach to fighting cancer – which begins in the veterinary clinic and ends, it is likely to be, in the oncology wing for children.
The disease concerned is bone sark, and it is evil bone cancer that affects both dogs and children. In dogs, it is the most common type of cancer. In humans, hundreds of youth hunted every year, often in the long bones of adolescents. Treatments have not improved for decades. Survival rates for metable situations are still bleak.
But in space between species, researchers find a new hope.
After positive results of immunotherapy in dogs with bone cancer, the same treatment has now been tracked quickly for use in children with fatal cancer.
Dogs, children and genetic symbol of cancer
In the midst of this medical cooperation through the species, there is a New York -based technology company called OS treatments. In 2025, the company launched a subsidiary that focuses on the veterinarian, OS Animal Health, after reporting promising results from the clinical trials of a new drug called Ost-He2 in dogs with bone sarcoma.
The concept that they bet on is known as the name Comparative oncology. It is a growing field that uses naturally causes in pets – especially dogs – as models for studying and treating similar human cancers.
“Since the establishment of the company, Ost-He2 could change the level of care in the bone bone, which limits the need for amputation or surgical removal of the basic tumor,” said Paul Romense, CEO of OS Therapies and its president. “With today’s data, we think we are taking the first steps towards it.”
The data it refers to comes from an experiment in which the bone bone dogs received experimental immunotherapy instead of – or in addition to traditional treatment. The results were striking. Ost-her2 slowed the growth of the tumor, delayed or preventing amputation, and stretching survival. More importantly, it has provided strong evidence of the concept to apply the same treatment to children.
Trojan horse bacterial
Ost-He2 is not a typical chemotherapy. It is an immune remedy – which trains the body’s immune system to search and destroy cancer cells that express a protein called Her2. This future, when produced over cancerous cells, ships its growth. It is known in breast and esophageal cancers, but it also appears in bone sarcoma.
To provide a genetic load, Ost-Heer2 uses a genetically modified version of MonocytogenesBacteria associated with food poisoning of cancer treatments. Inside the body, average Lestia It infiltrates the immune cells, which leads to a strong response against the tumors that express Her2.
The strategy appears to be working. In dog experiments, the tumors not only shrink, but the spread of cancer to the lungs – a common and deadly development in bone sarkoma – slowed down.
“The strong safety file shown in this study also supports the use of Ost-He2 in this population whose incredibly difficult to treat and who do not have currently approved treatments,” said Robert Bettte, PhD, chief medical and scientific officials in a press statement.
From the dog house to the clinic
Dogs are also victims of the disease in itself. About 40,000 dogs are diagnosed in the United States every year. Most bleak options: amputation, chemotherapy, or both. Even with treatment, survival times are often calculated in months.
But the dog experience, which was published in Molecular therapyIt suggests that Ost-He2 can provide a lesser and more targeted approach. It is a possible transformation moment – for both pets and people.
With the encouragement of data, OS processors are rapidly tracking OST-Her2 to use pediatrics. In January 2025, the company I mentioned Positive results from a clinical trial of the 2B stage in young people between the ages of 12 and 39 years who have undergone surgical removal of metastatic tumors in the lungs. The drug greatly improved from survival for 12 months free of charge compared to historical controls.
This is a rare beam of hope for a disease that resists progressively.
Ost-He2 is now receiving A fast pathand OrphanageAnd Rare Nations from the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, the company will also get a value Priority review voucher– sales would bring up to $ 155 million.
“We focus on the laser to obtain an accelerated approval on Ost-He2 in frequent human sarcoma, attacked fully and lung by the end of 2025,” said Romense. “Romense said.
A new level of care?
Comparative oncology has been present for decades, but only recently began to get momentum as a transitive research tool. Studies conducted on dogs are cheaper and faster than human experiences, but they provide visions that mouse models often cannot. Pets live in the same environments that we do. Their immune devices interact in more similar ways to our effects than the animals linked to the laboratory.
As shown in the documentary PBS Model: Cancer pioneersThis approach does not only obscure the boundaries between human and animal medicine – it redefines it.
For families facing bone sarcoma, Ost-Heer2 may provide both humans and dogs, you may offer a rare thing: the most kind option. Better result. More time.
