UC Davis Health clinical trials help treat mastiff with bone cancer, giving hope in finding a cure – KCRA Sacramento

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Man’s best friend is leading the pack in finding a cure for cancer at UC Davis Health.
Tyson was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, in 2020. You’d never know it because of the 90-pound mastiff’s cheery demeanor, but his battle continues.
“He is not only our dog he is our family,” said Tyson’s owner, Brianna Fizulic. “My 6-year-old daughter calls him her brother. He is part of our family.”
The family was devasted after learning the news. Even after resorting to amputating one of its legs, the outlook was not looking good for Tyson.
Doctors only gave him a few months to live because his type of cancer spreads quickly.
“We were scared — nervous thinking I was going to lose my best friend,” Fizulic said.
Desperate, she enrolled him in a clinical trial at UC Davis. The trials are a unique multi-campus process where they try new treatments on dogs, and the ones that work are sent to the medical school to be studied, and they eventually get tested on humans.

Dr. Michael Kent, a UC Davis veterinarian who specializes in radiation oncology and is involved with those clinical trials, said, “Cancer is cancer no matter what species you are dealing with.”
As a participant in the clinical trial, all of Tyson’s expenses were covered, including conventional chemotherapy, scans and exams.
To treat Tyson, they used a mask to deliver a mist of inhaled immunotherapy. A year later, Tyler is doing better.
“I truly believe without him being in clincal trial, he might not be with us. If it ultimately, it doesn’t prolong his life maybe in the future, it can prolong someone else’s life,” Fizulic said.
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