Greenlighting Cancer Research: New Insulinoma Treatment Gives Beloved Dog Second Chance At Life
Story by Courtney Price, VMBS Communications
You never know when the relationships you make in school will turn into lasting friendships…or when those friendships could end up saving a life.
For Dr. Kelley Thieman Mankin and Dr. Heather Hendrickson, a small animal veterinarian in St. Louis, Missouri, their friendship began during veterinary school at the University of Missouri.
“We were in the same anatomy group,” Thieman explained. “Her maiden name is Thomas and mine is Thieman. We were friends all throughout vet school.”
Now a small animal soft tissue surgeon at the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH), Thieman recently began collaborating on a Canadian clinical trial that aims to develop new surgical techniques for treating pancreatic cancer in dogs.
What she didn’t know when that project began was that she would end up saving the life of her friend’s beloved family pet.
Meeting Coco
Hendrickson first met Coco as a patient at Webster Groves Animal Hospital in St. Louis, where Hendrickson works.
“She had been hit by a car,” Hendrickson said of the boxer mix. “Her leg was broken in multiple places, and she needed immediate help.”
Since Coco also needed a home, Hendrickson quickly decided to make the 9-month-old a part of the family.
While Hendrickson originally had some reservations about how the young dog would behave around her family, and especially her kids, Coco turned out to have the perfect temperament.
“She’s one of those dogs who’s so sweet, even with kids,” Hendrickson said. “Even having just had surgery, she let my kids pet her, and we knew we had to give her a chance. We’re very glad we did.”
Back in March, Hendrickson noticed that Coco was having episodes of weakness, which were then followed by several seizures. She started running tests on Coco, which revealed that the dog had extremely low blood sugar.
“That’s when we started to ask whether this could be an insulinoma,” Hendrickson said.
Insulinomas are tumors that form in the pancreas. They cause the body to produce too much insulin, which causes low blood sugar and, eventually, seizures. While low blood sugar and seizures are common symptoms of many different health conditions in dogs, insulinomas are rare.
Bottom: The tumor seen with near-infrared light glowing due to the accumulation of Indocyanine Green (ICG) dye
Helping A Friend In Need
Knowing that Coco needed to see a specialist to remove the tumor, Hendrickson contacted Thieman.
“It was just serendipitous,” Thieman said. “She wanted me to do the surgery because we’re friends, and it just so happened that I was opening a clinical trial.”
So she suggested to Hendrickson that Coco become the first patient in her trial.
Thieman’s clinical trial is a partnership with the Ontario Veterinary College (OCV) at the University of Guelph in Canada. Texas A&M is one of a small number of sites participating in the trial.
“The goal of the trial is to help make insulinoma surgery easier,” Thieman said. “Currently, when we are performing procedures to remove insulinomas, we sometimes find that the tumors can be hard to see because they look like normal pancreas tissue. You get into surgery, and it can be difficult to find where the tumor is.”
To make the procedure easier and more accurate, Thieman and the other researchers in the trial are using a special dye called Indocyanine Green (ICG).
“We give the patients ICG before surgery,” Thieman explained. “The cancer cells soak up the dye but healthy pancreas cells don’t. Then, we use a special camera during surgery that makes the ICG glow.”
Using the dye also makes it easier to see exactly where the edges of the tumor are so the veterinarian can remove as much cancer as possible.
“Sometimes they’ll have more than one tumor,” Thieman said. “The dye helps us identify all of the abnormal sections.”
A Hopeful Outcome
After learning about the trial, Hendrickson and her family changed their spring break plans and headed to Texas with Coco. Initially, the family’s main concern was that Coco would have a seizure while on the road.
“I thought it was going to be a lot worse, because Coco had never traveled more than a couple of hours,” Hendrickson said. “But she was a trooper. I brought a ton of different medications in case she did have a seizure, but she did amazing. My kids kept her entertained, and we just sort of made a vacation of it.”
Once Coco arrived at the SATH, she was given a dose of the ICG dye. On the second day, surgery began.
Thankfully, the dye made Coco’s tumor very easy to see.
“As soon as we took out the tumor, Coco’s blood sugar began to look more normal,” Thieman said. “That was the exciting part for us.”
“Everyone at the hospital was wonderful,” Hendrickson said. “I’m not even a local veterinarian, but everyone was so great about keeping me in the loop. Everyone was so helpful.”
Within just a few days of the surgery, the now 10-year-old was doing well enough to head back home with her family.
“Coco is doing amazing,” Hendrickson said, “We actually had to keep her calm at first because she wanted to run around and play. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
The Trial Continues
Coco’s surgery is an important step toward improving health outcomes for dogs with pancreatic cancer. However, Thieman and her collaborators still need additional applicants for the trial, which is administered by the Office of Veterinary Clinical Investigation. If you are interested in applying, more information is available on the trial’s Study Pages site at tx.ag/PancreaticCancer.
Applicants can be dogs of any breed, age, or sex that have an insulinoma. The trial itself only takes two days, including an overnight stay at the hospital. In most cases, the patient will be discharged to go home on day three, though it’s possible some patients may need additional support care during recovery.
While benefits from participating in the trial aren’t guaranteed, it’s possible that the new technique will lead to a more thorough removal of the insulinoma. Owners also receive a $2,000 credit toward covering their expenses.
“Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate in dogs if patients don’t get treatment quickly,” Thieman said. “By removing the tumors that cause excess insulin, we’re hoping to give patients and their owners more time together.”
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Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of VMBS Today.
For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
