The find could help fight cancer in humans

Oct 9, 2015 18:53 GMT  ·  By
Researchers think they might have figured out why elephants don't get cancer
   Researchers think they might have figured out why elephants don't get cancer

Like mole rats, elephants appear to be immune to cancer. Plainly put, the pachyderms almost never get this disease, a feat that researchers have been trying to figure out and explain for decades now. 

In a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, specialists with the University of Utah and their collaborators propose a possible explanation for why it is that cases of elephants diagnosed with cancer are few and far between.

The University of Utah specialists who worked on this research project and their colleagues explain that, as part of their investigation, they took their time examining the genetic profile of elephants.

They found that these animals carry a total of 38 additional modified copies of a gene that encodes a protein dubbed p53. In turn, this protein acts as a tumor suppressor.

By comparison, the scientists say we humans only carry 2 additional modified copies of this gene that encodes the cancer-fighting protein p53. This partly explains why we are more vulnerable to cancer, they think.

What's more, evidence indicates that an elephant's body is designed so that whatever damaged cells that might form tumors arise are killed twice as fast as in humans, the team details.

These findings could help treat cancer in people

The reason specialists are quite intrigued that elephants almost never develop cancerous tumors is that their body is made up of about 100 times as many cells as ours.

In theory, having more cells should correlate with an increased cancer risk, seeing as tumors usually form from damaged cells. The more cells in the body, the higher the risk for them of growing tumors should be.

All the same, recent estimates say these pachyderms have a cancer mortality rate of less than 5%. In humans, however, the cancer mortality rate is one of about 11 to 25%.

Having found evidence that their very genes protect elephants against cancer, the University of Utah specialists and their collaborators are thinking about finding a way to groom these biologic abilities in people.

“Nature has already figured out how to prevent cancer. It’s up to us to learn how different animals tackle the problem so we can adapt those strategies to prevent cancer in people,” explained study co-senior author Joshua Schiffman in an interview.

“By all logical reasoning, elephants should be developing a tremendous amount of cancer, and in fact, should be extinct by now due to such a high risk for cancer. We think that making more p53 is nature’s way of keeping this species alive,” the researcher added.