Dogs have long been used for medical research, usually to the dismay of animal-rights activists.
But now pet owners are enrolling their dogs in medical trials meant to benefit humans and animals alike. And some animal advocates are applauding the development.
Most of the trials, often sponsored by drug companies or medical device makers, involve pets with cancer in which the animals receive groundbreaking drugs or other treatments that are meant eventually for people.
Pfizer has introduced a human cancer drug that was given an early test in pet dogs, and a California company, IDM Pharma, recently filed for federal approval of another cancer drug that received similar testing.
Treating dogs gives researchers an idea of whether and how the treatment will work in people, while at the same time possibly helping the pets.
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"It can help in reshaping the image of animals in science, from being considered tools to being considered patients," said Martin Stephens, the vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States.
The National Cancer Institute has formed a consortium of more than a dozen veterinary teaching hospitals to conduct the tests. Government and academic scientists are setting up a nonprofit group to study DNA and tumor samples from pet dogs, in an effort to pinpoint genes associated with cancer in both dogs and people.
The government push is adding momentum to an approach under way for several years among universities and medical centers that have been testing companies' drugs and devices. Meanwhile, dogs whose owners enroll them in these trials often benefit from the best cancer treatments available.
An exemplar of the trend is Basil, a 6-year-old golden retriever.
"They call him the miracle dog," said Alan Wilber, a history teacher at a community college who, along with his wife, Kathy, lives with Basil in Los Banos, Calif.
Basil developed bone cancer in 2001. By the time the affected leg was amputated, the disease had spread to his lungs and was deemed beyond surgical hope.
But the Wilbers enrolled Basil in a study of a drug developed by Sugen, a biotechnology company, being conducted at the University of California, Davis. Enough tumors disappeared so that the rest could be removed surgically, and Basil has been free of cancer for 3½ years.
