The Morris Animal Foundation, which funds research for companion animals, hopes to raise a total of $30 million (U.S.) by April 2012, to be used for canine cancer research. The funding, which will support research worldwide, will include clinical trials, prevention studies related to genetics, funding of a tumor tissue bank, and establishment of an endowment to guarantee continued research efforts.
Cancer is reported to be the number one cause of disease-related death in dogs, with one in four dogs expected to die of cancer. While any dog can develop cancer, certain dog breeds are particularly susceptible to specific types of cancer.
Although the dog is the focus of the Morris Foundation Campaign, humans with cancer stand to benefit indirectly. According to a recent Scientific American article (December 2006), written by veterinarian Dr. David Waters, a professor of comparative oncology at Purdue University, there are many similarities between canine and human cancer. Similarities include: osteosarcoma, which has similar skeletal locations and aggressiveness in humans and dogs; prostate cancer, in which dogs and humans are the only 2 species that naturally develop a lethal form of this cancer; breast cancer, in which the aggressive form will spread to the bones in both dogs and women; and lymphoma, with the form that most commonly affects dogs resembling medium- and high-grade B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans.
The Morris Animal Foundation is using the tag line “best friends helping best friends”, since the goal is to help dogs, but in doing so, humans will likely benefit.
