Join Dr. Christine Hardy on Monday, March 25, at 10 a.m. as she discusses the similarities between cancers in dogs and cancers in children. Every year many animals develop cancer. Some of them manage to overcome it. Medical researchers have now begun an intensive study of animals that survive. New research shows that many of these animal cancers are remarkably similar at the cellular level to those that develop in humans. The hope is that what works in saving these animals might possibly work for us.
Ongoing research is now specifically targeting canine cancer. Tumors develop naturally in dogs, just like in people. Dogs live in the same environment as we do, breathe the same air, drink the same water, so are the causes of cancer similar to those in humans?
This research has led to success stories in the time and cost of human treatment. For example, osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, is so similar between dogs and people that research in canines has led to several breakthroughs in treating the same condition in children, enabling better and less costly treatments, improved diagnostic tools, and even preventative interventions, to benefit all cancer patients.
Since early childhood, Dr. Christine Hardy has had a fondness for animals, leading to her becoming a veterinarian. She is a national leader in the study of naturally occurring cancers that cross species. At the Flint Animal Cancer Center, she is now the program lead for the One Cure initiative, committed to the goal of conquering cancer in all species.
Tickets are $5 at the door and go on sale at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the Renaissance Theater. No registration is required.