The summer season often comes with a reminder to apply sunscreen – and for good reason. Sun exposure is a leading cause of skin cancer so prevention plays a crucial role in lowering your risk of developing the disease.
This summer, the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) is teaming up with the Champaign Park District and Urbana Park District to help keep you safe. Look for our sunscreen stations at the park districts’ outdoor pool facilities and check out more safety tips here.
While taking an active role in skin cancer prevention is one way to combat the disease, researchers continue to explore new ways to help patients – both human and animal.
CCIL Associate Director for Translational Research and Development Tim Fan is a professor of veterinary clinical medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Fan’s laboratory assesses new therapies for cancers that share similar traits between humans and pets.
The CCIL has partnered with the Champaign Park District and Urbana Park District on a summer sun safety campaign.
“Just like people, companion animals including dogs, cats, and horses can have increased risks for developing skin cancers due to excessive sunlight exposure,” says Fan, noting that diagnoses in animals can include basal cell tumors, hemangiosarcoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.
His team is working with partners at both Illinois and external institutes on several projects, some which focus on boosting a patient’s immune system response to help fight cancer cells: for example, injecting novel immunotherapeutic combinations directly into melanoma tumors. Another study evaluates adoptive cellular therapies – treatments that often use cells from the patient’s own tissue – to combat aggressive forms of hemangiosarcoma (referred to as angiosarcoma in people).
The lab is taking a two-fold approach to squamous cell carcinoma. One study explores the combination of radiation therapy with immunotherapy. Fan will also soon lead a clinical trial that evaluates the success of a special drug delivery strategy developed at Yale University.
Results from these studies play an important role in providing clarity on potential treatment options for humans. Fan notes that while there are always differences among species, focusing on commonalities in tumor biology and therapy response has the promise to accelerate new possibilities in the clinical space.
Editor’s Notes:
Timothy Fan is the CCIL Associate Director for Translational Research and Development, as well as a Professor of Clinical Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Fan also serves as a principal investigator for the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory and is a core member of the Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.
This story was written by Jessica Clegg, CCIL Senior Marketing and Outreach Coordinator