Too many of us continue to lose our loved ones—people and pets—to cancer.  We also suffer the long-term consequences of current treatment options or face a diagnosis of a rare cancer that does not have effective treatment options.

Animal Cancer Foundation seeks to change this by closing the gap in funding for comparative oncology research, uniting pet & human research for a cure^®

The National Research Council (US) Committee on the National Needs for Research in Veterinary Science has published Critical Needs for Research in Veterinary Science (National Academies Press (US) 2005.

Critical Research Needs:

• Preventive-medicine and wellness strategies—vaccination and other means to control infectious disease, appropriate nutrition, methods or strategies for disease monitoring, and better methods for diagnosing and treating behavioral disorders.
• Improved understanding of and treatment for geriatric and immune disorders—such as cancer, organ failure, arthritis and immune-mediated disease (ACF focus).
• Rapid and minimally invasive diagnostic methods (ACF focus).
• Randomized controlled clinical trials (of sufficient power to detect clinically significant differences) to address many long-standing diagnostic and treatment questions (ACF focus).
• Concentrated efforts in reproductive efficiency and orthopedic issues of performance animals.
• Improved understanding of the ecology of microbial organisms that may be transmitted to humans from companion animals and vice versa.

Importance and Contribution of Research

Failure to address issues involving companion-animal health and well-being will result in substantial morbidity and mortality in companion-animal populations; adversely affect the psychological well-being of their owners and the family and social framework; and delay or prevent advances in pharmaceutical and biologics development and in the understanding and treatment of many important human and animal diseases.

Companion-animal health research will improve the length and quality of life for companion animals, which in turn will have favorable effects on their caregivers. Such research will also provide valuable comparative-disease information that will benefit human and animal health.