 
The
truth about cats and dogs "It isn't just a dog thing. The fact that similar mutations are found in people with cancer tells us that dis- ruption of normal c-kit function may play an important role in the processes that lead to tumor development in many different species, " says London. With grant funding from the American Cancer Society and the School of Medicine, London is studying the pathways that make normal c-kit become oncogenic. Because mast cell tumors are so common in dogs, recruiting patients for studies and getting tissue samples are easy tasks. Anxious pet owners visit the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital at UC Davis every week with sick pooches in tow; more than 1,000 dogs with tumors are treated annually. For that matter, the very profession of animal oncology has grown in recent years because of the upsurge of pet owners willing to open their wallets to treat Fido and Fluffy. "It's definitely a field that is driven by the prosperity of this country," says London. But this holds benefits for humans too. "Dogs are a great intermediary on which to study cancer," says London. "The step between small animals and humans is fraught with problems. We can make that jump easier."
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Discoveries about cancer in animals help scientists understand the disease in humans
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