Nature & Environment
Cancer is as Old as Multicellular Life on Earth: Evidence of Primordial Cancer Discovered
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Jun 25, 2014 08:04 AM EDT
Cancer isn't a new phenomenon and now, scientists are learning exactly how old it might be. They've found that cancer is as old as multicellular life on Earth after discovering evidence of primordial cancer in a primitive animal.
"During the search for the origin of the cancer gene, we unexpectedly made a discovery in the ancient group of animals," said Tomislav Domazet-Loso, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our data predicted that the first multicellular animals already had most of the genes which can cause cancer in humans."
The researchers were actually investigating stem cells and the regulation of tissue growth in Hydra, a phylogenetic old polyp. Then they found tumor-bearing polyps in two different species of Hydra, which is an organism that's very similar to corals. This, in particular, shows that tumors exist in primitive and evolutionary old animals.
The scientists didn't stop with the initial discovery, though. They also tracked down the cellular cause of the tumors along the entire body axis. This allowed them to show that the stem cells accumulate in large quantities and are not removed naturally by programmed cell death. In addition, these tumors only seemed to affect female Hydra polyps, and also resembled ovarian cancer in humans.
"When undertaking more detailed molecular analyses of the tumors we found a gene that becomes active dramatically in tumor tissue and that normally prevents the programmed cell death," said Alexander Klimovich, one of the researchers, "As a non-functioning cell death mechanism is also made responsible for the growth and spread of tumors in many types of human cancer, striking similarities appear here to cancer in humans."
The findings reveal that cancer isn't a new phenomenon. Instead, it stretches far back in time. This shows that the invasive characteristic of cancer cells in an evolutionary old feature, and that cancer is likely to continue to remain part of our lives.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
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First Posted: Jun 25, 2014 08:04 AM EDT
Cancer isn't a new phenomenon and now, scientists are learning exactly how old it might be. They've found that cancer is as old as multicellular life on Earth after discovering evidence of primordial cancer in a primitive animal.
"During the search for the origin of the cancer gene, we unexpectedly made a discovery in the ancient group of animals," said Tomislav Domazet-Loso, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our data predicted that the first multicellular animals already had most of the genes which can cause cancer in humans."
The researchers were actually investigating stem cells and the regulation of tissue growth in Hydra, a phylogenetic old polyp. Then they found tumor-bearing polyps in two different species of Hydra, which is an organism that's very similar to corals. This, in particular, shows that tumors exist in primitive and evolutionary old animals.
The scientists didn't stop with the initial discovery, though. They also tracked down the cellular cause of the tumors along the entire body axis. This allowed them to show that the stem cells accumulate in large quantities and are not removed naturally by programmed cell death. In addition, these tumors only seemed to affect female Hydra polyps, and also resembled ovarian cancer in humans.
"When undertaking more detailed molecular analyses of the tumors we found a gene that becomes active dramatically in tumor tissue and that normally prevents the programmed cell death," said Alexander Klimovich, one of the researchers, "As a non-functioning cell death mechanism is also made responsible for the growth and spread of tumors in many types of human cancer, striking similarities appear here to cancer in humans."
The findings reveal that cancer isn't a new phenomenon. Instead, it stretches far back in time. This shows that the invasive characteristic of cancer cells in an evolutionary old feature, and that cancer is likely to continue to remain part of our lives.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone