A la Pêche aux Moules

Area of Science:

• Marine biology
• Cancer research
• Evolutionary medicine

Background:

• Horizontal transmission of cancer cells is rare in higher organisms but frequent in molluscs.
• Recent evidence suggests inter-species transmission of cancer cells occurs in both molluscs and mammals.
• Goff and collaborators (Metzger et al. 2016) presented data on contagious cancer in shellfish.

Approach:

• Analysis of reported data on cancer cell transmission.
• Review of existing literature on horizontal cancer transmission.
• Comparative study of cancer spread in different species.

Key Points:

• Contagious cancer cells have been reported to spread among different species of shellfish.
• Molluscs exhibit a high frequency of horizontal cancer cell transmission.
• The concept of inter-species horizontal infectious transmission of cancer cells is supported by recent evidence.

Conclusions:

• Horizontal transmission of cancer is a significant phenomenon in molluscs.
• Evidence supports the inter-species spread of contagious cancer cells across diverse taxa.
• Further research is warranted to understand the mechanisms and implications of trans-species cancer transmission.