Cancer Prevalence across Vertebrates

Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains the differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades of tetrapods (amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult mass (contrary to Peto's paradox) and somatic mutation rate but decreases with gestation time. The relationship between adult mass and malignancy prevalence was only apparent when we controlled for gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection. Outliers for neoplasia prevalence include the common porpoise (<1.3%), the Rodrigues fruit bat (<1.6%), the black-footed penguin (<0.4%), ferrets (63%), and opossums (35%). Discovering why some species have particularly high or low levels of cancer may lead to a better understanding of cancer syndromes and novel strategies for the management and prevention of cancer. Significance: Evolution has discovered mechanisms for suppressing cancer in a wide variety of species. By analyzing veterinary necropsy records, we can identify species with exceptionally high or low cancer prevalence. Discovering the mechanisms of cancer susceptibility and resistance may help improve cancer prevention and explain cancer syndromes. See related commentary by Metzger, p. 14.

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Publication Details

Journal
Cancer Discovery
Published
2024-10-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.cd-24-0573
Citations
52
Primary Topic
Veterinary Oncology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
21.78

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article

Cancer Prevalence across Vertebrates

Amy M. Boddy, Lucia N. Ramirez, Brigid V. Troan, Ashley Zehnder et al.
52 citations
Cancer Discovery
Veterinary Oncology Research
21.78
article

Cancer Prevalence across Vertebrates

Amy M. Boddy, Lucia N. Ramirez, Brigid V. Troan, Ashley Zehnder, Edmund Flach, Ryan Kennington, Simon Spiro, Diego Mallo, Zachary T. Compton, Athena Aktipis, Shawn Rupp, Gabriela Furukawa, Valerie Harris, Joshua David Schiffman, Walker Mellon, Trevor A. Graham, Stefania E. Kapsetaki, Christopher I. Li, Selin Aksoy, Mathieu Giraudeau, Sushil Sudhakar, Kathleen Noble, Hannah Davidson, Ashley Peraza, Carlo C. Maley, Lisa M. Abegglen, Brian Martins, Elizabeth G. Duke, Tara M. Harrison, Mallory Wilmot, Marc Tollis, Orsolya Vincze, Cristina Baciu
article en
52 citations

Abstract

Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains the differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades of tetrapods (amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult mass (contrary to Peto's paradox) and somatic mutation rate but decreases with gestation time. The relationship between adult mass and malignancy prevalence was only apparent when we controlled for gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection. Outliers for neoplasia prevalence include the common porpoise (<1.3%), the Rodrigues fruit bat (<1.6%), the black-footed penguin (<0.4%), ferrets (63%), and opossums (35%). Discovering why some species have particularly high or low levels of cancer may lead to a better understanding of cancer syndromes and novel strategies for the management and prevention of cancer. Significance: Evolution has discovered mechanisms for suppressing cancer in a wide variety of species. By analyzing veterinary necropsy records, we can identify species with exceptionally high or low cancer prevalence. Discovering the mechanisms of cancer susceptibility and resistance may help improve cancer prevention and explain cancer syndromes. See related commentary by Metzger, p. 14.

Cancer DiscoveryVol. 15(1)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Zoological Society of London (GB), North Carolina State University (US), University of Arizona (US), Institute of Cancer Research (GB), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), University of Washington (US), Northern Arizona University (US), Huntsman Cancer Institute (US), Babeș-Bolyai University (RO), Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US), PEEL Therapeutics (United States) (US), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory (US), North Carolina Zoo Society (US), Arizona State University (US), La Rochelle Université (FR)
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, National Cancer Institute, Hyundai Hope On Wheels, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Veterinary Oncology Research
21.78
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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