Second contagious form of cancer found in Tasmanian devils

Transmissible cancers - cancers which can spread between individuals by the transfer of living cancer cells - are believed to arise extremely rarely in nature. One of the few known transmissible cancers causes facial tumours in Tasmanian devils, and is threatening this species with extinction. Today, scientists report the discovery of a second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. Until now, we've always thought that transmissible cancers arise extremely rarely in nature, but this new discovery makes us question this belief - Elizabeth Murchison The discovery, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , calls into question our current understanding of the processes that drive cancers to become transmissible. Tasmanian devils are iconic marsupial carnivores that are only found in the wild on the Australian island state of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, the animals have a reputation for ferocity as they frequently bite each other during mating and feeding interactions. In 1996, researchers observed Tasmanian devils in the north-east of the island with tumours affecting the face and mouth; soon it was discovered that these tumours were contagious between devils, spread by biting.