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Sticker's Sarcoma, Passed via sex?!?

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Fizzgig

Posted: Aug 12 2006, 02:04 AM

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Joined: 30-April 05

I found an article and I will copy it here.

QUOTE

Study Finds That a Type of Cancer in Dogs Is Contagious
Researchers Say Data on Canine Sticker's Sarcoma Illustrate the Resourcefulness of DNA

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 11, 2006; Page A03

Scientists in England have gathered definitive evidence that a kind of cancer in dogs is contagious -- a peculiar exception to the age-old medical wisdom that you can't "catch" cancer.

Although no human cancer is known to spread naturally from person to person, the finding of such a disease in dogs -- and emerging evidence that a different contagious cancer is spreading among marsupials in Tasmania -- is a reminder, scientists said, that under the rules of evolution, DNA will try anything to perpetuate itself.

A cancer cell is usually an animal's or person's own cell that -- because of exposure to a virus or other environmental agent -- has broken free of normal growth controls. Cancer-causing viruses may spread from person to person, but the cancer does not.

But the dog cancer, known as Sticker's sarcoma, is spread by tumor cells getting passed from dog to dog through sex or from animals biting or licking each other.

Because Sticker's sarcoma is usually not fatal -- and because some of the tumor cells reside in the dogs' genital tracts, where it's a small leap from one animal to another during sex -- today's worldwide distribution of Sticker's tumors represents a single colony of cancer cells, the new research concludes.

Indeed, scientists suspect that the colony, distributed among countless dogs, may be the longest in the world.

"I rather thought we might disprove this, but it came out the other way around," said Robin Weiss, of University College London, who led the study appearing in today's issue of the journal Cell. "It is clearly a dog tumor cell behaving absolutely like a parasite." Weiss called the tumor transmission trick "a curiosity of nature."

Scientists have suspected for decades that Sticker's was being passed directly from dog to dog, but doubts persisted because no other naturally transmitted cancers were known. Rarely, recipients of human organ transplants have "caught" cancer from tumor cells hiding in the organs they received.

Weiss and his colleagues did genetic studies on the tumor cells from 40 dogs with Sticker's sarcoma, collected from five continents. The researchers showed that the cells are not genetically related to the dogs they are in -- proof that they did not arise from the dogs' own cells.

They also showed that all the tumor cells, no matter where they were collected, are clones of each other. That is, they are all progeny of the same parent cell.

Further genetic studies by Weiss's team suggested that the parent cell probably arose in a domesticated dog of Asian origin -- perhaps a husky -- hundreds of years ago, and perhaps more than 1,000 years ago. Since then, the cancer has perpetuated itself by jumping from one dog to another.

Studies suggest that, unlike most tumor cells, which contribute to their own demise by becoming increasingly genetically fragile, Sticker's tumor cells are remarkably genetically stable, perhaps explaining in part their evolutionary success.

Robert A. Weinberg, a pioneer in the genetic underpinnings of cancer at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., said he was not surprised to learn that genetic studies had confirmed that Sticker's is a transmissible cancer, given the strength of earlier clues. But he agreed that the phenomenon raises difficult questions about why more cancers do not spread this way.

"We really don't understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that would lead to this sort of thing and its transmission from one individual to another," Weinberg said.

Both Weinberg and Weiss expressed concern about the recently reported discovery of a similarly transmissible cancer spreading through populations of Tasmanian devils, the notoriously bad-tempered carnivorous marsupial.

"They fight a lot and have been spreading these facial tumors through bites," Weiss said. "The cancer cells clog up the jaw, and the poor animals die of starvation."

Some experts believe that the epidemic could threaten the devil with extinction.

Could we get this from an exposed lover? I am no expert, that is why I ask. Is this a cancer Humans can get? I know so little I don't even know what to ask. Open discussion...........any thoughts or feelings out there concerning this article.

fluffykitten	Posted: Aug 12 2006, 02:22 AM
Disciple of the board Group: Banned Posts: 6870 Member No.: 79162 Joined: 18-January 05 Rate Member:	Now that certainly is an eye-opener. Really makes you rethink everything we've seen and heard about it before. Sorry i don't have any answers for you, Fizz. I have as many questions as you now. Certainly sounds possible to me though. Thank you for posting it, i will be interested to see the responses.

Faunak8

Posted: Aug 12 2006, 04:40 AM

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From wikipedia's article "Canine transmissible venereal tumor":

QUOTE

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), also called transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), Sticker tumor and infectious sarcoma is a tumor of the dog and other canids that mainly affects the external genitalia. In male dogs, the tumor affects the penis or prepuce. In females, it affects the vagina or labia. Rarely, the mouth or nose are affected.[1] The tumor often has a cauliflowerlike appearance. The disease is spread when dogs mate. The tumor does not often metastasize. Biopsy is necessary for diagnosis. Chemotherapy is very effective for this type of tumor, but surgery often leads to recurrence. The prognosis for complete remission is excellent.[2] Canine TVT was initially described by Russian veterinarian Novinsky in 1876, when he demonstrated that the tumor could be transplanted from one dog to another by infecting them with tumor cells.[3]

Tumor cells may have fewer chromosomes than normal cells. Dog cells normally have 78 chromosomes; TVT tumor cells contain 57 - 64 chromosomes.[3] There is no evidence that the tumor is caused by a virus or virus-like organism. All tumor cells of this type of cancer share extremely similar genetic code, often if not always unrelated to the DNA of their host. Specifically, the LINE-1 element in the tumor cells is in a different location than in normal canine DNA. [4]

It has been proposed that the tumor cells responsible for Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor be considered parasites instead of cancers, in light of their distinct genetic code. It has been estimated that the tumour cell line originated 200 to 2,500 years ago in a wolf, coyote, or old Asian dog breed such as a Husky or Shih Tzu. The tumour cells are themselves the infectious agents.[5]

Biopsy is necessary.. OUCH!

sage43	Posted: Aug 12 2006, 07:14 AM
Newbie Group: Members Posts: 46 Member No.: 173071 Joined: 13-October 05 Rate Member:	IT is not.

Overdryve	Posted: Aug 12 2006, 07:46 AM
Enthusiast Group: Members Posts: 104 Member No.: 224599 Joined: 19-January 06 Rate Member:	Not transmissible to humans, but you have to think that maybe the cancers that we battle today will mutate like that, heh we'd have a hay day :(

Kyoukan	Posted: Aug 12 2006, 08:56 PM
Enthusiast Group: Members Posts: 146 Member No.: 58978 Joined: 29-October 04 Rate Member:	Bump, and here's a link to the source of that article for anyone interested. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6081001535.html We were talking about it yesterday at work and I was going to post it on here today but I found that it has already been mentioned... Kinda makes you want to be careful with letting your dog mate with other dogs... :ph34r: :unsure:

petluvr56733	Posted: Aug 12 2006, 11:41 PM
Addict Group: Members Posts: 214 Member No.: 275589 Joined: 4-May 06 Rate Member:	I was listening to a discussion about this on the radio the other day and it got my attention. I don't see anything in any of these articles that says it definately is NOT transmittable to humans. Maybe I missed something but I can't help thinking its possible. I wonder if there is a test for it? :thinking: Like Kyoukan said, it makes you worry about your dog mating with other dogs.

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