# Cancer Across Domestic Animals: A Descriptive Review from the Veterinarian’s Perspective

## TL;DR

This review explores cancer in domestic animals, highlighting species-specific patterns and their relevance to human cancer research.

## Contribution

The paper emphasizes the veterinary perspective and the value of spontaneous cancer in domestic animals for translational cancer research.

## Key findings

- Dogs and cats have high cancer incidence and share environmental risks with humans.
- Horses commonly develop skin tumors like sarcoids and melanoma.
- Cancer in ruminants is less frequent due to shorter lifespans and underdiagnosis.

## Abstract

Cancer affects many domestic animal species, but its occurrence, tumour types, and clinical behaviour vary widely across them. Dogs and cats show high cancer incidence and share environmental risks with humans, making them valuable models for comparative oncology. Horses commonly develop skin tumours such as sarcoids, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma, while cancer appears less frequently in ruminants, partly due to shorter lifespans and underdiagnosis. Rabbits, rodents, reptiles, and birds also develop a diverse range of neoplasms, although available data remain limited and often fragmented. This review summarises the current knowledge on cancer across domestic animals, highlighting species-specific patterns, genetic and environmental influences, and their relevance for One Health and translational cancer research.

Cancer is a disease characterised by uncontrolled cell growth, that affects not only humans but also a wide range of animal species, and even plants. In this review, we explore and discuss the published literature about cancer across domestic animals. Most existing cancer across species studies have been conducted by researchers who are not familiar with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in domestic animals, and the veterinary perspective is rarely included. Moreover, many scientists remain unaware of the value of clinical data obtained from spontaneous cancer in domestic animals. In this review, we examine, summarise, and comment on the available literature investigating cancer across different species, with a focus on domestic animals, including herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. We also analyse the potential influence of body size, metabolism, environment, and genetic background on cancer risk across species. Understanding both cancer sensitivity and resistance mechanisms in different animals may help bridge current knowledge gaps between veterinarians, researchers, and human oncologists. Ultimately, these insights may support the development of more effective cancer prevention and treatment strategies in animals and humans, emphasising the One Health–One Cancer approach.