TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthCare Tips) -- Ordinary dogs with cancer could offer crucial insight into the human forms of the illness, potentially leading to better treatments and screening for tumors, researchers from the U.S. National Cancer institution report.

The study authors, whose findings appear in the Oct. 13 online journal PLoS Medicine, noted that the predictable one million dogs that develop cancer in the United States each year can help inform scientists how analytical and experimental treatments work.

As in humans, dog owners often turn to such treatments, including chemotherapy, emission and operation, as a last resort.

In many cases, "pet owners are motivated by the opportunity to add to the advancement of cancer treatment for future human and canine patients," lead author Chand Khanna and colleagues at the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute explained in a news release from the Public Library of Science.

Researchers have studied cancer in other animals for decades, mainly bone cancer, lymphoma and melanoma. Now, the National Cancer Institute's Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium encourages the study of cancer in animals with an eye towards serving people.

Dogs develop many diseases that are comparable to those in humans. In recent years, researchers have paid more attention to the similarities.