{"id":488911,"date":"2026-02-18T23:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488911\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:51:14","slug":"your-dogs-gut-health-could-determine-how-long-they-survive-after-cancer-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488911\/","title":{"rendered":"Your dog\u2019s gut health could determine how long they survive after cancer treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your dog\u2019s gut health<\/a> could help to determine how long they could survive cancer<\/a>, researchers announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Canine cancer patients<\/a> with certain species of bacteria in their guts were found to live longer after treatment with a new drug than those with other bacteria species, scientists at Oregon State University found in a groundbreaking study.<\/p>\n

The findings<\/a> have potential implications for millions of dogs and their owners – and could even result in lengthening your pet\u2019s lifespan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Almost half of American households have at least one dog, and nearly six million dogs are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year. More than four million die.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, an analysis of a microbiome swab could help predict how well a dog might respond to a cancer treatment. This allows pet owners and vets to make more informed decisions about care,\u201d university researcher Natalia Shulzhenko explained in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Millions<\/p>\n

Millions of dogs are diagnosed with cancer each year in the U.S. But new research could help scientists extend the lives of canines with cancer (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now that we know certain bacteria are linked to survival, we can explore ways to \u2018fix\u2019 a dog’s gut microbiome to help the vaccine work better and help the dog live longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers examined the gut health of 51 dogs with various forms of cancer, taking rectal swabs from different ages, breeds and weights.<\/p>\n

There are more than 300 breeds of dogs and any breed can get cancer – although past research from U.C. Riverside<\/a> shows medium-sized dogs may be disproportionately impacted. The most common cancers in dogs are lymphoma, melanoma, bone cancer, bladder cancer and cancer in their blood vessels, according to Colorado State University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dogs in the study most commonly had bone and blood vessel cancer, but the researchers did not specify which breeds were tested. The swabs allowed the team to analyze the trillions of species of bacteria living in the dogs\u2019 guts, also known as their gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

Humans have a gut microbiome, too, which helps to regulate the immune system, support digestion and keep our brains and other areas of the body healthy.<\/p>\n

The researchers determined that 11 species of gut bacteria were tied to either positive or negative results after cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

The family of bacteria that cause E. coli and C. diff infections and life-threatening heart inflammation known as endocarditis were found to lead to a higher risk of death. Whereas, the multiple sclerosis-linked family Lachnospiraceae<\/a> and inflammatory bowel disease-tied Ruminococcaceae<\/a> were actually linked to a lower risk of death.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One in four dogs are expected to develop cancer at some point during their life. Past research has shown medium-sized dogs may be at a greater risk (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Understanding how these bacteria families behave after cancer treatment in dogs could also help human cancer patients, according to Shulzhenko.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur study is a first step toward using the gut microbiome as a tool to develop prognoses and to manipulate cancer, not just in dogs, but potentially as a model for human treatments as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rates of cancer have been rising in younger adults and appear to be rising in dogs over the last few decades, the Animal Cancer Foundation<\/a> says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do know that diagnosis is happening more frequently because pet parents are seeking veterinary care and specialty care for cancer. Many factors may influence the appearance of an increase in incidence and more funding is needed for these types of studies,\u201d the foundation wrote.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t change the fact that a quarter of dogs are expected to develop cancer at some point during their life. The risk doubles for elderly canines aged 10 and older, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your dog\u2019s gut health could help to determine how long they could survive cancer, researchers announced Tuesday. Canine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,52076,1617,16778,3104,23756,137,88774],"class_list":{"0":"post-488911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bladder-cancer","11":"tag-cancer","12":"tag-cancer-treatment","13":"tag-dog","14":"tag-gut-microbiome","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-oregon-state-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}