When your pet has cancer, the last thing you probably want to think about is a pet cancer study. You have so much to deal with that the thought of signing up for what’s known as a “clinical trial” is too much to think about, right? We totally get that.
But if you are in the middle of coping with any kind of pet cancer, and you have the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial, we beg you to consider doing so. Need more convincing? If you have 30 minutes this important video will do the trick:
“The Answer to Cancer Might Be Walking Beside Us” is a powerful video produced by Colorado State University. It explains why clinical trials matter so much to pets and people alike.
How a Pet Cancer Study Helps People Too
One in three people and one in four dogs will develop cancer in their lifetimes. And each year experts estimate that more than 50,000 dogs a year are diagnosed with bone cancer. We might be two different species, but we share many of these same cancers.
A clinical trial brings together human and veterinary oncology professionals to mutually study how treatment of pets with certain cancers can improve therapies for human patients with the same condition. The goal is to find “one cure” for both pets and people.
Clinical trials are a fast track to finding treatments and ultimately cures to cancers in pets and people. According to Dr. Cheryl London, DVM, PhD, Professor of Oncology, College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University:
“Unlike the medical community where cancer patient outcomes can take 5, 10 or 15 y ears to really determine, we often know our outcomes within one to two years. So there is a tremendous potential to ask really important biologic questions and answer them in a very short timeline.”
Participating in a pet cancer study with a veterinary teaching hospital or other pet cancer oncology project means having access to cutting-edge pet cancer treatments. Therapies are often free or very low cost. And the best part? By doing it, you’re not just helping your pet, you’re helping people too.
“We’re not going to get where we need to go if we’re going to keep doing things the way we always have,” says J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society. He’s right. We have to try extra hard to think differently and work together.
If there is anything good that can come out of a pet cancer diagnosis, it’s the ability to participate in a new way of thinking to finally reach a cancer cure for all of us. Clinical trials are the best way we as pet parents can help cancer researchers do that.
Recommended Reading
Why You Should Care About Comparative Oncology Research
Learn How Pet Cancer Clinical Trials Seek Cancer Clues and Cures