system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Do 15 year old dogs get cancer at rates similar to 15 year old humans, or to humans at a similar point on their lifespan?
gpt
Definitely the latter . A 15 year old human is an adolescent. Cancer in adolescents (14-19) is pretty rare , accounting for less than 1% of all cancers. They also tend to be different types of cancer than what children or adults get. This would be more equivalent to a 1-2 year old dog. A 15 year old dog is beyond geriatric. That's beyond the normal lifespan of many breeds. A better example might be comparing to a middle aged or older dog (10-12) in many breeds. Their rates of cancer are going to be higher, comparable to people above 65. . Age is a big risk factor for cancer; certain cancer types in particular are linked to aging.