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 also known as "clonally transmissible cancers".^[1]

Examples in animals

Cancer is not normally a contagious disease, but there are three known exceptions in dogs, Tasmanian devils and Syrian hamsters. These cancers have a relatively stable genome as they are transmitted.^[2] 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.^[3]

• 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.^[4]

• Contagious reticulum cell sarcoma of the Syrian hamster,^[5] can be transmitted from one Syrian hamster to another by means of the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti.^[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]

See also

• Bernard Peyrilhe
• Oncovirus
• Cancer bacteria

References

1. ^ Murchison EP (December 2008). "Clonally transmissible cancers in dogs and Tasmanian devils". Oncogene 27 Suppl 2: S19–30. doi:10.1038/onc.2009.350. PMID 19956175. 
2. ^ Retrovirology A sexually transmitted parasitic cancer
3. ^ Pearse, A.-M., Swift, K. (2006). "Allograft theory: Transmission of devil facial-tumour disease". Nature 439 (7076): 549. doi:10.1038/439549a. PMID 16452970. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7076/abs/439549a.html. 
4. ^ 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. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092-8674(06)00912-3. 
5. ^ 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. 
6. ^ 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. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/148/3674/1239. 
7. ^ 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. 
8. ^ Welsh JS (2011). "Contagious cancer". Oncologist 16 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2010-0301. PMID 21212437. http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=21212437. 
9. ^ 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, http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/extract/335/20/1494, retrieved 2009-03-29