Multimodal Treatment of a Canine Lingual Melanoma Using a Combination of Immunotherapy and a Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Abstract

A 9-year-old female neutered Miniature Schnauzer was diagnosed with a lingual malignant melanoma on the basis of incisional biopsy and histopathology. The patient was initially given a guarded prognosis of a few months’ survival as surgical treatment options were declined by the owner. In order to control the disease a combination treatment of immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors was initiated. The mass showed a marked and sustained reduction in size, whilst preserving quality of life for the patient, with a survival at the time of writing of 15 months since diagnosis. This experience suggests that combination therapy for oral malignant melanoma using immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors may be successful in some patients and warrants further investigation.

Canine oral melanoma with suspected pulmonary metastasis: Combination of immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment

“…2012 ; Aris and Barrio 2015 ; Ahn and Ursini-Siegel 2021 ). Moreover, a previous study conducted on a dog with lingual melanoma showed a marked extension of survival time after applying a combination treatment of melanoma vaccine and tyrosine kinase inhibitors ( Berry et al. 2022 ).…”

“…A combination of immunotherapy and TKI has been tried on numerous types of tumours in human medicine, including mucosal melanoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and breast cancer (Wilmott et al 2012;Aris and Barrio 2015;Ahn and Ursini-Siegel 2021). Moreover, a previous study conducted on a dog with lingual melanoma showed a marked extension of survival time after applying a combination treatment of melanoma vaccine and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Berry et al 2022). The combination strategy of TKI and immunotherapy is considered more effective due to various mechanisms, including promoting cell apoptosis, enhancing drug sensitivity, and inhibiting the development of resistance (Yang and Tam 2018).…”

Potential Promises and Perils of Human Biological Treatments for Immunotherapy in Veterinary Oncology

“…Nevertheless, Oncept is safe and well-tolerated, and as future studies are conducted, it is likely that the effect of prognostic indicators, such as tumor size and lymph node metastasis, on Oncept efficacy will be better detailed [ 32 ]. A recent case report also reported that Oncept can be combined with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor to treat lingual metastatic melanoma [ 33 ], raising the exciting possibility of a combinational approach with a vaccine and other adjuvant therapies, including chemotherapy, to elicit better clinical outcomes. Therefore, xenogenic vaccination with DNA-encoded plasmids is a potential approach for using existing therapies developed for humans in a veterinary oncology setting.…”

Advances in Understanding Spontaneously Occurring Melanoma in Animals

“…The report of a cutaneous malignant melanoma on the ear of a white African lioness ( Panthera leo ) that was only diagnosed once metastasis to the liver and omentum had occurred, provides details of the clinical presentation, gross pathology and histopathological findings observed in this case and serves to show that although rarely reported in non-domesticated felids, cutaneous melanoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for any skin mass [ 2 ]. The report of oral (lingual) malignant melanoma in a domestic dog provides a glimmer of hope for patients with this aggressive tumour type—a combination of immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors resulted in a reduction of tumour size and the patient was still alive at 15 months post-diagnosis, with a preserved quality of life [ 3 ].…”