{"id":5524,"date":"2017-08-13T09:18:56","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T09:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=5524"},"modified":"2017-08-13T09:18:56","modified_gmt":"2017-08-13T09:18:56","slug":"scientists-say-cancer-may-be-contagious-%ce%bf-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%ba%ce%af%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82-%ce%af%cf%83%cf%89%cf%82-%ce%b5%ce%af%ce%bd%ce%b1%ce%b9-%ce%bc%ce%b5%cf%84%ce%b1%ce%b4%cf%8c%cf%83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=5524","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Say Cancer May Be Contagious. \u039f \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03ba\u03af\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03af\u03c3\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b4\u03cc\u03c3\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have warned that cancer, previously thought to be\u00a0non-contagious, may actually be transmitted from human to human following a disturbing new study.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Contagious cancer cells are able to spread between different animals, according to new research published in the journal Nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Independent.co.uk<\/a> reports:<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers found mussels, cockles and clams, collected off the coasts of Canada and Spain, \u00a0that had been infected with tumours which originated in another individual.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur results indicate that transmission of contagious cancer cells is a widespread phenomenon in the marine environment, with multiple independent lineages developing in multiple species,\u201d the paper said.\u00a0\u201cCases of transmissible cancer appear to outnumber spontaneous disease, at least in the species investigated so far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers added that the cancers usually spread between animals of the same species, but they had found \u201cone example of cross-species transmission\u201d.\u00a0\u201cThese transmissible\u00a0cancers constitute a distinct class of infectious agent and show the\u00a0remarkable ability of tumours to acquire new phenotypes [genetic types] that promote\u00a0their own survival and propagation,\u201d the paper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Normally tumours consist of the body\u2019s own tissue, which makes them\u00a0particularly dangerous because\u00a0the immune system fails to react effectively.\u00a0Another organism\u2019s tumours should pose little threat because the immune system would attack in the usual way if it is functioning properly.\u00a0Molluscs are believed to have only a primitive immune system that may leave them particularly prone to a cancerous infection.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the researchers, Professor Stephen Goff, of Columbia University Medical Centre, said their findings had prompted him to look at the marine world in a different way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to note that the ocean is a sea of various bacteria and now [cancer] cells that are capable of being pathogens,\u201d he toldThe Independent.\u00a0\u201cI guess it\u2019s a kind of change of thinking, that there are contagious cells floating around in the sea that can colonise a susceptible host.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The scientists\u00a0now plan to study the genetic processes that allow tumours from one creature to infect another, which might shed new light on how cancer spreads within people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Goff stressed their research provided no reason to stop swimming in the sea or eating shellfish.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s only a problem if you are a mollusc. There\u2019s really no evidence that tumours of molluscs have spread outside of molluscs. They are not likely to cause a problem because we do have an immune system that works,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an article in Nature commenting on the research, Dr Elizabeth Murchison, a reader in comparative oncology and genetics at Cambridge University, said finding that cancers \u201ccan invade new host species\u201d was significant.\u00a0\u201cThe potential for cancer cells to become free-living infectious agents raises questions about the implications for cancer transmission in humans,\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

A key question is whether the contagious cancer cells have been around for thousands of years or are a new phenomenon. And, if they are new, what caused them to develop?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is possible that, like the canine transmissible cancer, these cancers are ancient cell lineages that have co-evolved with their hosts through the millennia; or perhaps their emergence is a relatively recent occurrence, possibly stimulated by infectious agents, environmental changes, aquaculture or other anthropogenic [human] activities,\u201d Dr Murchison added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Mel Greaves, director of the Centre of Evolution and Cancer at The Institute for Cancer Research in London, stressed results of the study were \u201cno cause for concern\u201d about humans catching cancer from the sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The disease\u00a0has been known to spread in humans from a mother to a baby in the womb, between twins in the womb or\u00a0after an organ transplant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn all three cases, transmission was possible because a blood route for cancer cells was available and the immune system was compromised. This risk is very, very small indeed,\u201d\u00a0Professor Greaves said in an email.\u00a0\u201cRegarding these new results in shellfish, the public should not be at all alarmed as the processes involved are different from those in people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biology is, however, very interesting with implications for the evolution of both cancer cell clones and immune recognition within and between species.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/yournewswire.com\/scientists-say-cancer-may-be-contagious\/<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists have warned that cancer, previously thought to be\u00a0non-contagious, may actually be transmitted from human to human following a disturbing new study.\u00a0 Contagious cancer cells are able to spread between different animals, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Independent.co.uk reports: Researchers found mussels, cockles and clams, collected off the coasts of Canada … <\/p>\n

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