Investigating a Novel Approach to Prostate Tumour Treatment in Dogs

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequent cancer in men but uncommon in dogs. In veterinary medicine, there is no consensus for standard-of-care treatment of PC, even combined therapies offer limited success with a guarded prognosis (≤ 1 year). As urinary obstruction is a frequent reason for euthanasia in dogs with PC, better local tumour control is warranted. Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have potential for biomedical applications and can be produced via "green synthesis" incorporating plant nutraceuticals. In a pilot study of 4 dogs (3 purpose-bred and 1 diagnosed with PC), we demonstrated that green synthesized AuNP can be safely delivered to the prostate gland via a minimally invasive technique and that functionalized AuNP are generally well-tolerated. While in the early stages, our results suggest that this novel approach may be worthy of further research and development with potential future clinical applications for both dog and human patients with prostate tumours.