Mechanisms of cancer resistance in long-lived mammals

Cancer researchers have traditionally used the mouse and the rat as staple model organisms. These animals are very short-lived, reproduce rapidly and are highly prone to cancer. They have been very useful for modelling some human cancer types and testing experimental treatments; however, these cance...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Cancer Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 433 - 441
Main Authors: Seluanov, Andrei, Gladyshev, Vadim N, Vijg, Jan, Gorbunova, Vera
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.07.2018
Subjects:
Animals
Body Size
Cancer
Cattle
Chiroptera
Disease Resistance - genetics
Disease Resistance - physiology
Elephants
Horses
Humans
Longevity
Mammals
Mice
Mole Rats
Molecular modelling
Mutation
Mutation Rate
Neoplasms - genetics
Neoplasms - metabolism
Rats
Sciuridae
Species
Whales
ISSN:1474-175X, 1474-1768, 1474-1768
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Cancer researchers have traditionally used the mouse and the rat as staple model organisms. These animals are very short-lived, reproduce rapidly and are highly prone to cancer. They have been very useful for modelling some human cancer types and testing experimental treatments; however, these cancer-prone species offer little for understanding the mechanisms of cancer resistance. Recent technological advances have expanded bestiary research to non-standard model organisms that possess unique traits of very high value to humans, such as cancer resistance and longevity. In recent years, several discoveries have been made in non-standard mammalian species, providing new insights on the natural mechanisms of cancer resistance. These include mechanisms of cancer resistance in the naked mole rat, blind mole rat and elephant. In each of these species, evolution took a different path, leading to novel mechanisms. Many other long-lived mammalian species display cancer resistance, including whales, grey squirrels, microbats, cows and horses. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer resistance in all these species is important and timely, as, ultimately, these mechanisms could be harnessed for the development of human cancer therapies.
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ISSN:1474-175X
1474-1768
1474-1768
DOI:10.1038/s41568-018-0004-9