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Review
. 2020 Jul 24;23(7):101269.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101269. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Transmissible Cancers in an Evolutionary Perspective

Antoine M Dujon  1 , Robert A Gatenby  2 , Georgina Bramwell  1 , Nick MacDonald  1 , Erin Dohrmann  1 , Nynke Raven  1 , Aaron Schultz  1 , Rodrigo Hamede  3 , Anne-Lise Gérard  4 , Mathieu Giraudeau  4 , Frédéric Thomas  4 , Beata Ujvari  5
Affiliations
Review

Transmissible Cancers in an Evolutionary Perspective

Antoine M Dujon et al. iScience. .

Abstract

Inter-individual transmission of cancer cells represents an intriguing and unexplored host-pathogen system, with significant ecological and evolutionary ramifications. The pathogen consists of clonal malignant cell lines that spread horizontally as allografts and/or xenografts. Although only nine transmissible cancer lineages in eight host species from both terrestrial and marine environments have been investigated, they exhibit evolutionary dynamics that may provide novel insights into tumor-host interactions particularly in the formation of metastases. Here we present an overview of known transmissible cancers, discuss the necessary and sufficient conditions for cancer transmission, and provide a comprehensive review on the evolutionary dynamics between transmissible cancers and their hosts.

Keywords: Biological Sciences; Cancer; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionary Ecology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Contagious Cancer Cells May Have Contributed to the Evolution of Sex (A) Asexual reproduction results in low genetic diversity and high inter-individual similarity within a population that can lead to increased risk of vertical and horizontal transmission of contagious cells. (B) Sexual reproduction results in greater genetic and inter-individual diversity in a population that limits the transmission probability of contagious cancer across individuals. Recognition of invading non-self cells is facilitated by higher inter-individual diversity. Selfish malignant cells regularly emerge in an organism, but unless the rare confluence of environmental and genetic factors occur (“perfect storm”), transmission of contagious cells will not occur (modified from Thomas et al., 2019).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of Devil Facial Tumor Diseases (DFT1 and DFT2) The first lineage of Tasmanian devil facial tumour diseases (previously referred to as DFTD, recently renamed as DFT1) was discovered in 1996 in the north eastern corner of Tasmania and spread across the island (Hawkins et al., 2006), whereas the second and independently risen lineage, DFT2, was discovered in 2014 and is currently confined to the D'Entrecasteaux Peninsula.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Population Biology of Intra- and Inter-individual Metastasis The generalized steps necessary for cancer cells to transmit to a new host are analogous to the steps of intra-individual metastasis (modified from Chen and Pienta, 2011). Similar to the classical metastatic cascade, following the initial growth at the primary tumor site, transmissible cancer cells have to survive transit, colonize, and establish in the new microenvironment of the novel host.
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