A New Tool in the Fight Against Pet Cancer Is Now Available in the Coachella Valley

Coachella Valley pet families facing a cancer diagnosis no longer have to leave the valley for one of the more advanced treatment options. Animal Samaritans, currently with the only veterinary oncologist in the Coachella Valley, has added a new electrochemotherapy unit designed to target tumors more directly and give local pets more treatment options.

Cancer is common in pets. About one in four dogs and one in five cats will develop it in their lifetime, and for dogs over age 10, that risk climbs to nearly one in two. Until now, families dealing with certain hard-to-treat tumors often had to travel outside the valley for specialized care.

The new equipment, made by Veticure, uses what's called tumor-specific electroporation. Dr. Vincent Baldanza, Animal Samaritans' oncologist, says the treatment can clean up residual disease left behind after surgery, shrink large tumors, or help push tumors into remission. "I'd say it's probably one of the more important settings is trying to prevent a tumor from growing back," Baldanza said.

Baldanza said electrochemotherapy is becoming more popular, though few clinics have had the equipment for it until the past couple of years. Without it locally, he said, clients "would generally have to travel into Los Angeles County or Orange County for the treatment." 

One of the first patients to use the new equipment is Bixby, a dog whose family noticed a bump on his ankle that kept growing. "It started getting bigger and it kind of grew almost like a small golf ball," said Colin Sowa, one of Bixby's owners. The bump turned out to be a soft tissue sarcoma. After meeting Baldanza, Sowa said the doctor gave Bixby good odds. "The doctor thinks there's an 85% chance it'll get rid of everything," he said.

Before the new treatment was available, Sowa said the alternative would have meant driving to Los Angeles for repeated rounds of radiation therapy, "and that would have been a lot for him and for us." Instead, Bixby was treated locally. 

More information on Animal Samaritans' veterinary oncology services is available at animalsamaritans.org.