Speaking to Lusa, Kátia Pinello, researcher at ISPUP and professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), clarified that the website, entitled Pet-OncoNet, was created to fill “a knowledge gap in this area”.

"We feel that owners feel lost when dealing with the diagnosis of cancer in four-legged companions", said the researcher, who is one of the coordinators of the project.

Launched to provide “credible, accurate and useful” information on companion animals, the digital platform includes data on the dog breeds most predisposed to the development of tumours, ways of early detection of cancer in the pet and also information on ongoing clinical trials and procedures to support the animal during treatment.

“Our goal is to create a community that studies and shares information about veterinary oncology in all aspects,” she said.