A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1519691113
• Publication Date: 2015-12-29T03:34:01Z
• Authors: Ruth J. Pye; David Pemberton; Cesar Tovar; Jose M. C. Tubio; Karen A. Dun; Samantha Fox; Jocelyn Darby; Dane Hayes; Graeme W. Knowles; Alexandre Kreiss; Hannah V. T. Siddle; Kate Swift; A. Bruce Lyons; Elizabeth P. Murc...; Gregory M. Woods
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 570; contagious cancer; X Chromosome; Molecular Sequence Data; 610; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Tasmania; 03 medical and health sciences; Neoplasms; Animals; Transmissible cancer; Alleles; Genome; Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease; Geography; Chromosome Breakage; Exons; 3. Good health; Marsupialia; Haplotypes; Karyotyping; Cytogenetic Analysis; transmissible cancer; Tasmanian devil; Microsatellite Repeats

SignificanceTransmissible cancers are somatic cell lineages that are spread between individuals via the transfer of living cancer cells. Only three transmissible cancers have been reported in nature, suggesting that such diseases emerge rarely. One of the known transmissible cancers affects Tasmanian devils, and is threatening this species with extinction. Here we report the discovery of a second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. This cancer causes facial tumors that are grossly indistinguishable from those caused by the first-described transmissible cancer in this species; however, tumors derived from this second clone are genetically distinct. These findings indicate that Tasmanian devils have spawned at least two different transmissible cancers, and suggest that transmissible cancers may arise more frequently in nature than previously considered.