A Devil of a Transmissible Cancer
1
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia
2
Tasmanian School of Medicine, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2020, 5(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020050
Received: 28 November 2019
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Revised: 26 March 2020
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Accepted: 27 March 2020
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Published: 1 April 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Parasites, Zoonoses and War: A Themed Issue in Honor of Emeritus Professor John M Goldsmid)
Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) encompasses two independent transmissible cancers that have killed the majority of Tasmanian devils. The cancer cells are derived from Schwann cells and are spread between devils during biting, a common behavior during the mating season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a parasite as “An organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from, or at, the expense of its host.” Most cancers, including DFTD, live within a host organism and derive resources from its host, and consequently have parasitic-like features. Devil facial tumor disease is a transmissible cancer and, therefore, DFTD shares one additional feature common to most parasites. Through direct contact between devils, DFTD has spread throughout the devil population. However, unlike many parasites, the DFTD cancer cells have a simple lifecycle and do not have either independent, vector-borne, or quiescent phases. To facilitate a description of devil facial tumor disease, this review uses life cycles of parasites as an analogy.
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Keywords:
devil facial tumor disease; parasite; transmissible cancer; MHC; immune escape
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MDPI and ACS Style
Woods, G.M.; Lyons, A.B.; Bettiol, S.S. A Devil of a Transmissible Cancer. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2020, 5, 50. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020050
AMA Style
Woods GM, Lyons AB, Bettiol SS. A Devil of a Transmissible Cancer. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2020; 5(2):50. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020050
Chicago/Turabian StyleWoods, Gregory M., A. B. Lyons, and Silvana S. Bettiol. 2020. "A Devil of a Transmissible Cancer" Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 5, no. 2: 50. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5020050
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