Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2025

Transient Transduction of the Strobilated Forms of Echinococcus granulosus
Published on: September 16, 2022
How Do Trematodes Induce Cancer? A Possible Evolutionary Adaptation of an Oncogenic Agent Transmitted by Flukes
Péter Apari1, Gábor Földvári2,3
1Independent Researcher Szekszárd Hungary.
Abstract:
There is strong epidemiological evidence that development of various cancer types is linked to infection with flukes (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The exact nature of the mechanism by which cancer is induced by these parasites is unknown. Here, we provide a new hypothesis suggesting that flukes are not the primary cause of cancer but act as vectors of cancer-inducing microbial pathogens. These pathogens adaptively induce tumours to attract and help flukes to feed on blood from the tumour. Pathogen take-up by fluke vectors also takes place in the tumour; therefore, tumour formation in this case is the result of a mutualistic and adaptive relationship between the microbe and the helminth parasite. The suggested mechanism for cancer induction provided here may help us gain deeper understanding about cancer in general and its relationship with microbes and parasites. By further elaborating the unique nexus between flukes, carcinogenic microbes and cancer, in the future it will also help us to broaden our oncological perspective to reduce human death and suffering from this serious disease group.
More Related Videos
09:45Mosaic Zebrafish Transgenesis for Functional Genomic Analysis of Candidate Cooperative Genes in Tumor Pathogenesis
Published on: March 31, 2015
12:05Mass Isolation and In Vitro Cultivation of Intramolluscan Stages of the Human Blood Fluke Schistosoma Mansoni
Published on: January 14, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...