Contagious Cancer Found in Dogs 303
Dan East writes "Scientists in England have gathered definitive evidence that a kind of cancer in dogs, known as Sticker's sarcoma, is contagious. It is spread by tumor cells getting passed from dog to dog through sex or from animals biting or licking each other. Robin Weiss and his colleagues did genetic studies on the tumor cells from 40 dogs with Sticker's sarcoma, collected from five continents, which showed that all the tumor cells are clones of each other. The parent cell probably arose in a domesticated dog of Asian origin — perhaps a husky — hundreds of years ago, and perhaps more than 1,000 years ago. A similarly transmissible cancer has recently been discovered spreading through populations of Tasmanian devils."
Transmitted through sex? (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder if they will start having puppy prophylactics in a candy dish at pet-smart.
tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:4, Funny)
Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:2)
Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:4, Insightful)
Humans aren't above evolution. We're part of the process. And one thing evolution has given some of our species is empathy. Another is to determine a system of values to live our lives by. If enough of us determine that the "right thing to do" is to save the Tassie Devil because we're concerned about their plight, then evolution has seen fit to give the Tassie Devil a leg up. There's no right or wrong, just an outcome.
Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:5, Insightful)
Ahh... a coward after my own heart. I've labored on many occasions to illustrate the fact that whatever people do, it is literally natural. To assume anything else would be placing us in the realm of (again, literally) the supernatural. So whether we destroy the planet, live in wigwams, colonize Mars, or genetically engineer a mouse that glows in the dark, the result is no more unnatural than a beaver damming up a culvert. There is no grand evolultionary, Gaia-mind plan that we run the risk of mucking up. The laws of nature simply play themselves out wordlessly and aimlessly. Isn't that comforting?
Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer (Score:5, Insightful)
Evolution is non-linear. It's a blind proccess based on probability, not some infallable mechanism for ensuring the correct changes occur. Extinction is not fated, nor does it unerringly take only those species who are unsuited to their environment (look at the major mass extinctions in history as proof of this).
And even when natural selection is responsible, why is that "right"? Evolution has no ethics, it simply is. Moreover, even if we start from the assumption that natural selection is right (or is best not interfered with), how can we seperate it out from every other factor involved in an extinction? Death by evolution is like death from old age; it's not a specific cause, it's a general description of what went wrong.
The death of the dodo or the passanger pigeon can argueably be considered a form of evolution; those species unable to cope with a new predator (man) die off. Yet we restrain ourselves from causing other species to go extinct.
We are ourselves unnatural creatures. The natural state of humans is poor health, early death, superstitious ignorance and starvation. We're hunter-gatherers naturally. Do we view our deviation from evolution as wrong?
And even if the tasmanian devils are dying out purely due to non-human factors, what arguement is there against trying to preserve them?
If you want to argue that the only species we have an obligation to preserve are the ones that our own actions have endangered, then that's fine - you're entitled to your own point of view. However, I don't agree with that line of thinking. The fact that we're probably blameless in the fate of the tasmanian devil doesn't mean we have no cause to preserve them.
Re:Transmitted through sex? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Transmitted through sex? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Transmitted through sex? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Transmitted through sex? (Score:4, Funny)
"Hold on, boy, there's an air bubble."
Re:Transmitted through sex? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, by the time you work out the air-bubble, he might just want a smoke and a cuddle. Then you won't have to worry about him humping strange dogs.
Cheers
It happens in humans, too. (Score:5, Funny)
Make sure to use protection, Slashdotters!
oh wait....
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:2)
Although at a primitive level, you are getting cancer as a direct result of sexual contact with another person.
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:2)
http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2006/08/09/an_old_dog _lives_on_inside_new.php [scienceblogs.com]
FTP:
"The scientists propose that several centuries ago, a histiocyte cell in a dog or a wolf turned cancerous. A mutation may have caused the cell to become abnormal--perhaps that LINE-1 element that marks Sticker's sarcoma cells today. But natural selection would have favored other mutations as well that allowed its descendants to become more effective at growing into a tumor. During mating, some
Which is why... (Score:5, Informative)
This story has a lot of implications that aren't necessarily obvious. First, if both dogs and marsupials can have a contageous, directly-transmissable cancer, then so can any species, through ANY mechanism that involves a transfer of cells. I wonder if blood banks are being screened for such cancers. Given the total lack of speed they showed over AIDS or vCJD, I seriously doubt they've got any serious monitoring in place for such pathogens. (Sure, it's a theoretical, but it would seem better to KEEP it a theoretical, rather than wait until it's a major problem.)
Since this was presumably two different spontaneous mutations, transmissable cancer must be capable of arising in almost any organism at almost any time. I doubt there would be many carcinogens in common between Alaska and Australia, despite them having the same first and last letters. Understanding that mechanism would seem very important, as it would seem reasonable to assume that anything that easy to start would be equally easy to stop.
Finally, for the cancer to spread in the way described, we must be talking about cells with a high degree of mobility. This can't be something attached to something, like a tumour, or it couldn't spread identically from organism to organism. It must also be fragile enough that an airborne version has not yet evolved. However, that may be merely a matter of time. I think medical labs should be putting the effort into understanding the mechanisms and the limitations of transmissable cancers, as we really don't want to be in the usual mess of playing catch-up afterwards, but don't need to do more than necessary if research shows that the limitations are barrier enough.
Re:Which is why... (Score:4, Interesting)
Part of what's unusual about this strain of cancer is mentioned in TFA:
So the cells are unusual, at least when compared to other forms of cancer.
Another thing I find odd is that the dog's immune system doesn't recognize these cells as foreign and attack them; one of the reasons that your own immune system has trouble attacking your own cancer cells is because they're identical to the host's. OTOH, they say the cancer isn't fatal in dogs, so it's quite possible that the immune system does limit it's development.
Re:Which is why... (Score:4, Interesting)
I first noticed an apparently-contagious tumour in dogs about 15 years ago. Transmission seems to require direct contact (not necessarily venereal), and the growth is always located in or just under the skin. Superficially, it resembles an ordinary fatty tumour. Under the microscope it looks like it's not exactly benign, but not like a "hot" cancer either. I've never seen one develop into anything serious.
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:4, Informative)
Human Papolova Virus (HPV) can be transmitted from person to person, however the cancer cells it creates are from the host. The article states that in this case the very cancer cells themselves are being transmitted and growing in a new host. These tumors have no genitic relation to host, whereas HPV induced cancers do.
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:2)
oh wait....
Yes, I think you caught the redundancy inherent in that statement, didn't you?
Re:It happens in humans, too. (Score:2)
Timmy Didn't Kill Old Yeller (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Timmy Didn't Kill Old Yeller (Score:2)
Now I see the headlines...
Re:Timmy Didn't Kill Old Yeller (Score:2)
Re:Timmy Didn't Kill Old Yeller (Score:2)
How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, all tumor cells are clones of each other and not related to the dog. How is this cancer? Isn't it just a regular pathogen then?
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:2, Insightful)
Presumably the oddity is that it's a cancer that behaves as a pathogen--that is, these are rogue dog cells that can jump from dog to dog and continue reproducing as a tumor. It's closest, really, to a parasite, but it's still weirder than that, since it's genetically the same species as its host.
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:2)
No no no... you got it all wrong.. The line is:
"Damnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not..."
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:3, Interesting)
I can see how a parasite like this might get a free ride in the genital tract, but in the case if bites like this, the host dog's immune system should recognize these 'cancer' cells as foreign material and destroy them.
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:3, Informative)
That's the cancer that affects tasmanian devils, not not the cancer that is affecting dogs. The dog version apparently is very rarely fatal to the dogs that contract it.
For that matter... (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean, it's hard to even transplant a finger in a human without using huge amounts of anti-rejection drugs. How is there a tumor growing inside the dog, with cells that must have a totally different DNA and chromosone pattern? Why is the dog's host system not attacking it?
I mean, part of the whole problem with cancer is that the cells are in fact your own cells, so your body never attacks the infection. But if the cancer is directly contagious than this is not the case at all.
Re:For that matter... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:For that matter... (Score:4, Informative)
It's
Re:For that matter... (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, the human body attacks cancers with an amazing speed and dedication. That's why when you get an immune suppressive disease like HIV, GRID or Hep C, you start getting all these weird cancers that nobody ever gets. The most common in the case of AIDS patients is Kaposi's Sarcoma, which is caused by a strain of herpes that we all have (HHV-8,) because once our natur
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:2)
It *behaves* most like a bacterial infection, but it causes tumors. Or rather, it pauses in a host and somehow replicates itself in large quantities, which is mistaken for a cancerous tumor. How does it feed?
This is a very interesting biological concept.
simple (Score:2)
If you prefer to be less specific, it's an animal infection. The dogs get infected by animal cells.
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:2)
Probably the same way as any "normal" cancer: it gets supplied with nutrients and oxygen from the blood stream, just like all the rest of the dog's cells.
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:3, Interesting)
This isn't the first time that a communicable parasite has evolved from a host's own cells and/or cell contents. Prions [microbe.org], such as the ones thought to cause BSE, are another i
Re:How are these Cancer Cells? (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, I know you mean peregrine as in ambulatory. How about heterometastasizing oncocytes? Then we could call HMOs a type of cancer for real.
Not Taz!! (Score:5, Funny)
Your dog wants a condom (Score:3, Interesting)
And it doesn't seem that human to human cancer transmission is impossible, too. This could be the next big thing once we've cured AIDS.
How common is Sticker's sarcoma, though? We have a dog, and although she's not getting to fuck like a rabbit, dogs often lick each other and sometimes bite.
Re:Your dog wants a condom (Score:2, Informative)
How common is Sticker's sarcoma, though? We have a dog, and although she's not getting to fuck like a rabbit, dogs often lick each other and sometimes bite..
See this post [slashdot.org].
Damn...I just lost my dog to cancer. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Damn...I just lost my dog to cancer. (Score:4, Insightful)
About the bark park, your dog would not have had it any other way.
Don't worry because:
1. Even though you may point to a risky behavior, this does not imply a cause - effect relationship. Many cancer causing agents will always abound in our environment.
2. I'd choose bark park with a 3/4 life span vs. no fun for a long time and all the other dogs I know agree.
3. A good chunk of the dog population gets the shaft, stuck on a chain, or in a cage and possibly gassed in their prime.
Ssshhhh! (Score:5, Funny)
Sshhh! Sshh! What are you doing? On the internet, no one's supposed to know that you're a dog!
Re:Damn...I just lost my dog to cancer. (Score:2)
Love. In the end, it's all you can do to honor someone close to you.
Re:Damn...I just lost my dog to cancer. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Damn...I just lost my dog to cancer. (Score:2)
Sorry to hear about your dog.
As much as it sucks to lose a pet, I'm sure she would have preferred a shorter, fun and happy life to being bored and cooped up inside all day.
Besides, there's no indication that i
Lots of causes of cancer; don't avoid the park! (Score:2)
The transmissible cancer described in the article sounds like a very specific, sexually transmitted illness.
Anyway, dog parks aren't doggy sexual playgrounds. Most specifically ban she doggies in heat, and I don't think play-humping would do the trick.
Wait, I saw this movie... (Score:2)
Cancer clusters... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Cancer clusters... (Score:2)
If, and only if, the occupants of these clusters turn out to be vampires.
It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:5, Informative)
Slightly annoying, in TFA, is the notion that "DNA will try anything to reproduce itself." That might want to read more like "just about everything happens to DNA as it's cloned, and sometimes the mutations work better, and sometimes they fail." There's nothing worse than anthropomorphizing your description of cellular mechanics.
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:3, Interesting)
Then again, this might be rare enough that it has had little impact on the
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:2, Funny)
I'll take hyperbole for $1,000, Alex.
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:3, Insightful)
Interesting sentiment... Funny how we can talk of "mind" as opposed to "brain" and nobody raises an eyebrow. The idea of consciousness is not that far removed from the idea that DNA is selecting host animals. After all, what is consciousness but the expression of chemical and electrical processes in the brain, similar to the chemical and electrical processes in DNA replication.
Careful! (Score:2)
It's a question of degree of complexity. There simply isn't enough processing horsepower in a single cell to provide the framework for what we comfortably refer to as a mind. So, I would actually would "raise an eyebrow" is someone attributed cognition and volition to a strand of DNA, but have no trouble assigning "mind" cap
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:2)
Or having your leg chewed off by a wolverine.
Oh, oh, kidney stones, I hear they're a lot worse than anthropomorphizing your description of cellular mechanics.
And don't forget about
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:2)
I've had all four of my legs chewed off by wolverines, you insensitive clod!
OK, so maybe a few things are worse than assigning a personality to a strand of DNA. I'll buy that.
Re:It's not even really LIKE a normal cancer... (Score:4, Funny)
So true. DNA hates it when you do that.
How does it evade the immune system? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How does it evade the immune system? (Score:2, Interesting)
Nice try (Score:2)
Re:How does it evade the immune system? (Score:2, Insightful)
After just recently losing someone close to cancer, it'd be nice to see some earth-sh
Re:How does it evade the immune system? (Score:4, Informative)
A recent study (Hsiao et al., 2004) shows that, during progressive growth, secretion of TGF-b1 by CTVT acts as a potent local inhibitor of host immune responses, as does the downmodulation of DLA class I and II expression observed by us and others (Cohen et al., 1984).
DLA is basically the dog immune system method of identifying 'self'. These tumor cells are hiding the fact that they are not-'self' well enough that they easily overwhelm any immune response.
Tasmanian Devils have it worse... (Score:5, Interesting)
In case you needed another reason... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:In case you needed another reason... (Score:2)
Cancer..... sounds more like a new life form (Score:2, Interesting)
confusing (Score:4, Interesting)
A cancer cell is usually an animal's or person's own cell..
If every cell of this cancer is a clone, and not the dog's own cells screwing up, then I'd say this is more like an infection. An alien organism has invaded the dog's body and then replicates. What's the difference (in terms of the vector) between this and a bacterial infection (also single-celled)?
rebuild the original dog (Score:2)
Try doing that with bacteria.
(I Am Not A Biologist, so this is quite likely a stupid idea)
Re:confusing (Score:2)
The alien thing is a dog cell, not a bacterium or a virus or a protozoan or a prion or a parasite. It is an infectious disease, yes, but a different variety. If a doctor exclaims, eureka, malaria is caused by a protozoan and not bacterium, and you respond, "well, same difference," then you should stop reading general interest healt
Re:confusing (Score:3, Informative)
Good gods no! To the immune system, this would look very different from an infection. For starters, it's going to appear to be "mostly dog", that is, many of the markers that prevent the immue system from attacking will be expressed. Bacteria don't do that, at least not on this scale (though they might mimic the host's markers enough to bypass some of the more common defenses).
No, this is going to look more like a parasite or perhaps some sort of
spread the word (Score:3, Funny)
If this spreads to cats... (Score:3, Funny)
Original peer-reviewed Cell link (Score:5, Informative)
This is just great. This is worse that prions.
Re:Original peer-reviewed Cell link (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Original peer-reviewed Cell link (Score:2)
Its not even deadly, as most dogs immune system will be able to supress the infection in a matter of months.
Those "external tumor infections" have all the weaknesses of living cells without the protection a normal cancer cell has by being hard to distinguish from "good" cells. (while prions are just a pain in the ass to kill)
We did a survey (Score:4, Funny)
The Tasmanian Devils just spun around quickly, said something completely incomprehensible and blew a rasberry...
test of species differentiation? (Score:2, Interesting)
----------------
Steve Stites
Re:test of species differentiation? (Score:2)
Some Informative Links (Score:3, Informative)
A Readable Technical Discussion of Stickers Sarcoma [scienceblogs.com] and Canine TVT - 2004 to Congress [vin.com].
Excerpt on Geographical Distribution from the latter: TVT is seldom or no more detected in North and Central Europe and in North America, mainly due to the population control of stray animals, the preventive pre-breeding examination and the effective treatment of clinical cases. With a few exceptions, TVT remains endemic in the rest of the world, obviously because of the uncontrolled population of stray dogs and the inadequacies of exerting effective treatments.
This is a new species of dog... (Score:2, Funny)
uhoh! (Score:2)
Great, another reason not to leave my house... (Score:2, Funny)
Doggie Cancer Kills (Score:2, Interesting)
The Punnic Wars, Part 2 (Score:3, Funny)
You can say that again.
Re:Kill all the dogs! (Score:4, Insightful)
Having said that, I agree with your views about how some people seem to value the lives of animals over other human beings.
I saw a commercial once that truly sickened me. They were asking for donations to help save captive bears in an empoverished third world country! I couldn't believe that someone could ask for money to save bears, instead of helping the PEOPLE that couldn't afford enough food. The bears were being held captive to be put on display to earn donations from passers-by, and I thought, "How stupid can this donation organization be! Solve the people problem, and you also solve the bear problem!"
Animal rights groups sicken me sometimes.
Re:Good thing (Score:2)
Re:How about other forms of cancer? (Score:2)
Re:Evolutionary Logic (Score:2)
Except that the tumors in this case dodge the organ rejection mechanisms of the host -- antigen expression in the tumor is suppressed, so the host has no way of identifying the tumor as foreign.
So maybe it would be bettr to say:
Avoidance of histological response to a parasite: it's a feature of a bug.
Re:yay, bird flu mkII :( (Score:2)