Detection of cancer infection in clam oysters

Contagious cancer cells are becoming increasingly popular among animals and marine life, sparking fears that the disease can spread from one person to another.

According to the previous concept, cases of cancer in animals are very rare, although last year an AIDS patient with a weak immune system was infected with cancer cells from the tapeworm. Sexually transmitted tumors also affect dogs, and the number of Tasmanian demons (a carnivorous marsupial variety) plummeted due to face cancer through bites, according to The Independent.

However, the new study published in Nature shows that infectious cancer is very common in three different shellfish species. Scientists found clams, oysters, and clams collected in waters off Canada and Spain with tumor infections originating from other individuals.

Cancer infected specimens collected in Spanish waters.(Photo: David Iglesias).

"Our results show that the spread of infectious cancer cells is a common phenomenon in the marine environment. The number of cases of cancer spread by spread seems to exceed the number of direct diseases, at least. in species included in the study , " the authors found.

The researchers also stressed that cancer often transmitted between animals of the same species, but they also found an example of other species infections. According to them, infectious cancer cells show the tumor's ability to develop amazing new genes, allowing them to survive and replicate.

Typically, tumors include the body's own tissue. Therefore, they become especially dangerous because the immune system cannot respond effectively. Tumors form from tissues of other organisms that are less dangerous because the immune system can attack them in the usual way. The mussel possesses a very primitive immune system, making them particularly susceptible to cancer.

Scientists are planning to study genetic processes that allow tumors from an organism to affect other organisms, contributing to shedding light on how common cancer is in humans.