The Flint Animal Cancer Center officially opened its doors in 2002. However, our roots in veterinary cancer care were planted in the late ’70s by Colorado State University’s Dr. Stephen Withrow, a veterinary surgeon, and Dr. Ed Gillette, a radiation biologist and veterinarian. At the time, veterinarians recognized that animals developed cancer. Because no advanced diagnostics or treatments were available, clinicians were left to make a note in the patient record and observe the outcome, which was almost universally fatal. Drs. Withrow and Gillette believed cancer could be treated in animals, much like it was in humans. They hypothesized that naturally occurring cancers, particularly in dogs, were similar to many cancers in people, making dogs a relevant model in which to study the disease in both species. They dreamed of establishing a cancer research program that studied cancer in both pets and people, an area of study formally called comparative oncology. Initially borrowing therapeutic protocols from human medicine, the duo built a successful veterinary-specific cancer care clinical and research program and went on to develop new therapies to benefit both pets and people.