HOUSTON (KPRC/CNN) Doctors are teaming up to cure cancer in dogs with the hope that it will one day do the same for humans.

Veterinarians have teamed up with researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for a T cell therapy trial in companion dogs.

"In many ways, dog and human cancers are the same," said Dr. Laurence Cooper of the Anderson Cancer Center.

T cells are the naturally occurring immune cells that circulate around the body, fighting infections and viruses.

The process requires that doctors draw blood from the cancer-stricken dogs and send it to M.D. Anderson. There, they isolate the T cells, grow even more and then return them to the Texas A&M Small Animal Clinic. The cells are then infused back into the sickened dogs, which are already undergoing regular chemotherapy.

In using T cell therapy, veterinarians found that dogs in the study were living longer and tumor-free for about nine months. There were also less side effects than with standard chemotherapy.

Dayna Willems remembers the exact moment last May when she realized something was wrong with her pound pup, Mokey.

"I just reached down to pet her and noticed that she had two large lumps under her jaw," Willems said.

The diagnosis was non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Less than 20 percent of dogs live longer than two years after they receive the diagnosis.

However, researchers are making progress.

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Researchers working to cure canine cancer

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