Retired TN K-9 survives prostate cancer after clinical trial
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The owners of a retired K-9 officer from Blount County say the dog survived prostate cancer after receiving an innovative new treatment.
WBIR-TV (http://on.wbir.com/1J4a2Jh) reports Kopper, a 14-year-old Belgian Malinois, retired in 2012. In December, his partner, Matt Thompson, and Thompson’s wife, Heather, discovered Kopper had prostate cancer. He was given three months to live.
University of Tennessee veterinarians referred the Thompsons to Dr. Bill Culp, who was conducting a clinical trial to treat prostate cancer in dogs at the University of California’s Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Culp determined Kopper was a candidate for the treatment called prostatic transarterial embolization. Doctors cut off blood vessels to the tumor, shrinking it.
Kopper received the treatment in December and was declared cancer-free two weeks ago.
