Sea You at Fetch Long Beach
News|Videos|September 20, 2023

Multimodal approach to cancer treatment with immunotherapy

Nashville hosting veterinary conference

Michael D. Lucroy, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology), shares how adding immunotherapy alongside other treatments can produce better results

In an interview with dvm360 at the Directions in Veterinary Medicine symposium in Nashville, Tennessee, Michael D. Lucroy, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology), chief medical officer of Torigen Inc, shares how he got his start in veterinary oncology. He also discusses how immunotherapy can be used in a multimodal approach to treating cancer in patients.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Michael D. Lucroy, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology): So way back 100 years ago when I was in veterinary school, looking at different career options, I like the idea of having kind of ongoing relationships like you would in general practice. But I thought that something like cancer would be more interesting as far as dealing with, kind of end-of-life issues. But also, just the idea of comparative medicine and the [idea that] things we learned in our dogs and cats can be applied to people.

One of our kind of guiding tenants of managing cancer patients is the idea of multimodal therapy. So any 1 thing can help, but when you do more than 1 thing, you get better results. And perhaps if you do all the things, you get an outstanding result. And so there are lots of data out there that show that combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy for example, or immunotherapy or other types of immunotherapy may, in fact, provide a better result.


Related to this article

Q&A: Caregiver burden can begin early in pet illness. Are veterinary teams equipped to support clients, and how can veterinary social workers help both parties?
Caroline Cox, LSW, MSW, and Erika Krick, VMD, DACVIM (Oncology), discuss the role of veterinary social workers in supporting clients, communicating with veterinary teams, and helping practices address the human side of veterinary care in this Q&A from an interview at the 2026 Fetch National Harbor Veterinary Conference.
Inside veterinary social work
In a slideshow drawn from an on-site dvm360 interview at the 2026 Fetch National Harbor Veterinary Conference, a veterinary oncologist and a veterinary social worker walk through how the role supports owners and staff across a pet's cancer diagnosis, treatment, and end-of-life care.
Laverdia now available for purchase for dogs with lymphoma
Verdinexor tablets are now available for dogs with lymphoma after receiving full FDA approval earlier this year, offering an at-home treatment option given twice weekly and showing a longer time to disease progression than the control in a field study.