A Devil of a Cancer

February 2, 2006

Good news on the research into the facial tumours which are plaguing

Tasmanian Devils. The results are unusual and really provide food for

thought on cancer in general.

Best regards,

Celeste

[Researchers say facial tumours are spread by biting.]

believe the malignant tumours are infectious and are transferred when

the animals bite each other during feeding and mating. (Getty Images)

breakthrough in devil disease fight Scientists in northern Tasmania

say they have made a breakthrough in the battle against the tumour

disease threatening tasmanian devils. They believe the malignant tumours

are infectious and are transferred when the animals bite each other

during feeding and mating. Devil researcher Anne-Maree Pearse from the

state's Primary Industries Department says they have also found the

tumours do not grow from the tissue of the affected devil, as with most

cancers. She says it is an unusual discovery. " What we've shown, or

we've shown a lot of very strong evidence that the cancer is transmitted

from animal to animal during fighting and biting, but by an infectious

cancer cell line ... that is incredibly unusual, " she said. The leader

of the devil disease project, Alistair , says the findings provide

a clearer direction for managing the facial tumour disease. He says now

that they know how it is spread, they can rule out other possibilities.

" The possibility of transmission through a virus or through airborne

vector and those sort of things we have had on the table, but this very

much puts the focus on to the physical transmission with the cancer

being transmitted from devil to devil, " he said.

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