ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Comparative and Clinical Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1603421
Safety and efficacy of canine recombinant IL-15 in mammary gland tumors
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jangan University, Gyeonggido, Republic of Korea
- 2Biomaterial R&BD Center, VaxCell-Bio, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
- 3Vet&Gene, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea
- 4Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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This study investigated the safety and therapeutic potential of recombinant canine interleukin-15 (rcIL-15) as an adjunct to surgical excision in dogs with mammary gland tumors (MGTs). Sixty-one client-owned dogs were initially enrolled, and 55 completed the 12-week study. Dogs were assigned to a test group receiving rcIL-15 with surgery or a control group undergoing surgery alone. RcIL-15 was administered intravenously at 20 µg/kg/day for two 4-day cycles, separated by a 10-day rest period. Clinical monitoring included physiological assessments, blood tests, and owner-reported quality of life (QoL) questionnaires.No significant adverse changes were observed in hematological, biochemical, or physiological parameters. RcIL-15 was well tolerated, with only mild and self-limiting gastrointestinal signs and injection site reactions. Dogs in the rcIL-15 group showed significantly improved QoL, particularly in pain, appetite, and activity. Notably, serum C-reactive protein levels decreased over time in the rcIL-15 group, suggesting reduced systemic inflammation. VEGF levels remained stable in the test group but increased in controls, while IFN-γ concentrations rose significantly following rcIL-15 treatment, indicating immune activation.These findings suggest that rcIL-15 may enhance antitumor immunity and alleviate tumor-related inflammation without compromising safety. The combination of surgery and rcIL-15 improved clinical outcomes compared to surgery alone, supporting its use as a novel immunotherapeutic adjunct for canine MGTs. However, limitations include the short follow-up period and lack of cellular immune profiling. Further studies with longer follow-up and immunological assessment are warranted to confirm these results and explore the broader application of rcIL-15 in veterinary oncology.
Keywords: Canine mammary tumors, recombinant IL-15, Immunomodulation, Antitumor efficacy, safety assessment
Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kang, Lee, Kim, Koh, Kang and Park. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hee-Myung Park, Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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