WASHINGTON — Cutting-edge research involving dogs with cancer might help doctors better diagnose and treat humans with cancer.

Some cancers that dogs and humans get are nearly identical. But with dogs, the diseases progress more quickly because they age faster, and researchers trying new methods get clinical results more quickly.

A study from Kansas State University shows, for example, how a specific combination of chemotherapy drugs is proving especially promising.

The research team conducting clinical trials with dogs, cats and other companion animals share their findings with human oncologists.

“Any research that we do in our patients has the potential to provide important information for how the disease can be better diagnosed, monitored and treated in human patients,” said Kansas State University assistant professor of clinical sciences Raelene Wouda in a news release.

“That’s what I would like to do with our research. I would like to continue to improve outcomes for our veterinary patients and, by extension, help human cancer patients.”

The Kansas State University research is published in Veterinary Comparative Oncology and the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.