In the United States, cancer is second only to heart disease as the leading cause of human deaths. Similarly, cancer is blamed for nearly 50 percent of deaths in dogs over 10 years of age. Since we’re in this together, can people and pooches help each other out?

It’s happening as we speak. Several years ago, veterinary and human oncologists, the specialists who treat cancer, teamed up to create the Comparative Oncology Program. The program, which was launched by the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research, designs and carries out trials of cancer treatments — some of which were developed in people — for dogs. Then some of the canine results are used to help develop new therapies for human cancer patients.

It’s just one more example of how pooches and people have each other’s backs.