A&M prof's plan to study human cancer using pets goes national

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, photo, Dr. Terry Fossum, a Texas A&M professor of veterinary surgery and founder of the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry, poses with her dog, Dan, in an examination room at the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies in College Station, Texas. Leading Texas veterinarians are mobilizing to enlist pets in the testing of experimental cancer therapies, a potential benefit to not just dogs and cats but people. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Karen Warren) MANDATORY CREDIT less In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, photo, Dr. Terry Fossum, a Texas A&M professor of veterinary surgery and founder of the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry, poses with her dog, Dan, in an examination room at ... more Photo: Karen Warren, MBO Photo: Karen Warren, MBO Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close A&M prof's plan to study human cancer using pets goes national 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A statewide registry for pets diagnosed with cancer, founded last year by a Texas A&M professor, has gone national.

The National Veterinary Cancer Registry was launched in May as a collaboration among the Texas-based C.A.R.E. (Clinical Animal Registration and Education) Foundation, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and the Texas Veterinary Oncology Group.

According to the registry website, the project advances veterinary cancer research by gathering information from owners of pets diagnosed with cancer and pairing the animals with emerging medical treatments.

Dr. Theresa Fossum, a Texas A&M professor of veterinary surgery, founded the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry last year.

Fossum told the Houston Chronicle in January 2012 that veterinarians hoped the registry would connect pet owners with cancer researchers. Enrolling pets, especially dogs, in clinical trials could be more effective than mouse studies at predicting how well cancer drugs will work in people, she said.

"Because (dogs) suffer from cancers that are nearly identical to those in humans, but quicker to run their course, they can speed up and make more reliable the process of determining whether a therapy will work," Fossum said last year.