This year, nearly 6 million dogs in the U.S. will receive a cancer diagnosis. That’s approximately three times greater than the number of Americans who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, even though humans are estimated to outnumber pet dogs by nearly 4 to 1.
Yet the genetic similarities between human and dog cancers may point the way to treatments that can save lives on both ends of the leash.
Most of the dogs that develop cancer this year won’t receive any treatment for their disease. Those that do will mostly be put on a chemotherapy regimen, a one-size-fits-all treatment that does little to arrest the unrelenting march of their deadly illness.
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