Comparative oncology is gaining attention as human patients, pet owners, and the medical community understand the similarities in cancer across species, and the benefits to be gained from working together. A new documentary highlights this approach.

“The Answer to Cancer May Be Walking Right Beside Us,” produced by Colorado State University (CSU) and Rocky Mountain PBS, will air on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 9 p.m. MST. The documentary’s theme is “opportunity.”

The show highlights the work of Stephen Withrow, DVM, founding director of CSU’s Flint Animal Cancer Center, and Ross M. Wilkins, MD, who treats human patients, who pioneered a limb-sparing technique for people with bone cancer first developed for veterinary patients at CSU.

The documentary also features researchers and clinicians from Duke University, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, the University of California Davis, Children’s Hospital Colorado, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin.