Feline breast carcinoma as a pathologic and therapeutic model for human breast cancer

The United States pet population has been a vastly underutilized resource for cancer therapy studies. Naturally occurring tumors in pet animals develop twice as frequently as in man, have histopathologic features and a biologic behavior similar to tumors in man, and progress at a more rapid rate than in man. Cancer of the breast is the most common major cancer in women and the third most commonly reported cancer in cats. Breast cancer is probably the most feared cancer in women because of its frequency and its psychological impact. Breast cancer in the cat is highly malignant, rapidly metastasizing, and often a fatal disease. This report will discuss the comparative nature of breast cancer and the advantage of using the tumor-bearing cat as a pathologic and therapeutic model for the study of human breast cancer.