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First pet cancer study launches in New York |
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| USA: July 1, 2002 | ||
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NEW YORK - Hoping to shed light on the environmental causes of cancer in humans and animals, Cornell University scientists announced last week they will launch a tumor registry for pet cats and dogs in two New York counties.
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Veterinarians will be asked to contribute data on their clients' animals in Tompkins County in upstate New York and Nassau County on Long Island, developing what the researchers said would be the first pet cancer registry in the nation. Pets share the same environment as their owners but lack potentially cancer-causing habits like smoking and excessive drinking. Geographic clusters with unusually high pet cancer rates, the researchers said, could tip off researchers to the environmental factors that might boost cancer rates in humans. The study, for which Cornell has secured $20,000 in state funds, will also help scientists track down pets diagnosed with cancer in order to collect tissue and blood and urine samples. "The pets can be in some respects almost a sentinel," said Margaret McEntee, a Cornell animal cancer specialist. Cancer is the leading cause of natural death in pets, the researchers' proposal stated. In New York State, about 80,000 humans, 15,000 dogs, and 9,000 cats develop cancer each year, according to the proposal. The state funds will allow data collection in the two counties and study is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of a wider investigation, McEntee said.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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