Clonally transmissible cancer
A parasitic cancer or transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transmitted from animal to animal. They are quite rare in humans and other animals. These cancers are distinct from cancers caused by infectious agents such as oncoviruses and cancer bacteria, which are more common.
Examples in animals
Cancer is not normally a contagious disease, but there are four known exceptions in dogs, Tasmanian devils, Syrian hamsters, and soft-shell clams. These cancers have a relatively stable genome as they are transmitted.[1] Because of their transmission, it was initially thought that these diseases were caused by the transfer of oncoviruses, in the manner of cervical cancer caused by HPV.
- Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a transmissible parasitic cancer in the Tasmanian devil.[2]
- Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is sexually transmitted cancer in dogs. It was experimentally transplanted between dogs in 1876 by M. A. Novinsky (1841–1914). A single malignant clone of CTVT cells has colonized dogs worldwide, representing the oldest known malignant cell line in continuous propagation.[3]
- Contagious reticulum cell sarcoma of the Syrian hamster[4] can be transmitted from one Syrian hamster to another by means of the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti.[5]
- Soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria, have been found to be vulnerable to a transmissible neoplasma of the hemolymphatic system — effectively, leukemia.[6]
It has been suggested that animals that have undergone population bottlenecks are at greater risks of contracting transmissible cancers.[7]
Instances of transmission of human cancer
Transmissible cancers are rare in humans.[8] A malignant fibrous histiocytoma was contracted from a patient by a surgeon when he injured his hand during an operation.[9] More recently, Barozzi and colleagues found that a significant fraction of Kaposi's sarcoma occurring after transplantation may be due to tumorous outgrowth of donor cells.[10] Although Kaposi's sarcoma is caused by a virus (Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus), in these cases, it appears likely that transmission of virus-infected tumor cells—rather than the free virus—caused tumors in the transplant recipients.
Animals to humans
Only one known instance of cross-species cancer transmission is known, that of a 41-year-old man in Colombia with a compromised immune system due to HIV. The man's tumor cells were shown to have originated from the dwarf tapeworm, Hymenolepis nana, making this a case of parasite-to-host cancer transmission.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Retrovirology A sexually transmitted parasitic cancer
- ^
Pearse, A.-M., Swift, K. (2006). "Allograft theory: Transmission of devil facial-tumour disease". Nature. 439 (7076): 549. doi:10.1038/439549a. PMID 16452970.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Murgia C, Pritchard JK, Kim SY, Fassati A, Weiss RA (August 2006). "Clonal origin and evolution of a transmissible cancer". Cell. 126 (3): 477–87. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.05.051. PMC 2593932. PMID 16901782.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ COPPER, H.L.; MacKay, CM; Banfield, WG (1964-10-01). "CHROMOSOME STUDIES OF A CONTAGIOUS RETICULUM CELL SARCOMA OF THE SYRIAN HAMSTER". J Natl Cancer Inst. 33: 691–706. PMID 14220251.
- ^ Banfield, William G.; Woke, PA; MacKay, CM; Cooper, HL (1965-05-28). "Mosquito Transmission of a Reticulum Cell Sarcoma of Hamsters". Science. 148 (3674): 1239–1240. doi:10.1126/science.148.3674.1239. PMID 14280009.
- ^ Selfish shellfish cells cause contagious clam cancer, by Ed Yong, at National Geographic; published April 9, 2015; retrieved April 10, 2015
- ^ Belov K (February 2011). "The role of the Major Histocompatibility Complex in the spread of contagious cancers". Mamm. Genome. 22 (1–2): 83–90. doi:10.1007/s00335-010-9294-2. PMID 20963591.
- ^ Welsh JS (2011). "Contagious cancer". Oncologist. 16 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2010-0301. PMC 3228048. PMID 21212437.
- ^ Gärtner, Hermine-Valeria; Seidl, Christian; Luckenbach, Christine; Schumm, Georg; Seifried, Erhard; Ritter, Horst; Bültmann, Burkhard (1996), "Genetic analysis of a sarcoma accidentally transplanted from a patient to a surgeon.", New England Journal of Medicine, 335 (20): 1494–1497, doi:10.1056/NEJM199611143352004, PMID 8890100, retrieved 2009-03-29
- ^ Barozzi, P.; Luppi, M.; Facchetti, F.; Mecucci, C.; Alù, M.; Sarid, R.; Rasini, V.; Ravazzini, L.; Rossi, E.; Festa, S.; Crescenzi, B.; Wolf, D. G.; Schulz, T. F.; Torelli, G. (2003). "Post-transplant Kaposi sarcoma originates from the seeding of donor-derived progenitors". Nature Medicine. 9 (5): 554–561. doi:10.1038/nm862. PMID 12692543.
- ^ "A Man In Colombia Got Cancer And It Came From A Tapeworm".