Hi Everyone

TVT is truly a neglected disease that is found in dogs almost exclusively in rural areas with poor access to veterinary health care. The cell line is a cloned cell that is transmitted from free-roaming dogs during coitus and has been going for 11000 years!! The cells have fewer chromosomes than standard canine cells and persist due to down-regulation of the MHC attachment sites. It is possible to keep theses cells going in vitro.

I believe that the technology is out there to eradicate TVT permanently (either as a preventative or cure). An mRNA vaccine or a monoclonal antibody might work and I am sure if we point a clever enough person in the right direction a cure will come out.

The biggest problem in eradication is that there is treatment requires 6-8 treatments and requires qualified staff to handle and administer the chemotherapy drug vincristine.

We either need a vaccine or a cure which is an oral or one-off injectable medication.

This can be added onto a Rabies eradication program as the population is the same.

If are working in this field or want to work on it and need/want collaboration please let me know. It would be nice to form a TVT working group to get funding to eliminate this disease and focus efforts to do so.

thanks

Joe