14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists writing in the journal Biomed Central: Biology argue that, unlike mice and rats, blind mole-rats are stunningly resistant to chemical compounds known to cause cancer.
Otherwise put, something in the makeup of these animals' bodies makes them cancer-proof.
The researchers explain that, in order to test just how resistant to cancer blind-mole rats are, they carried out a series of experiments.
Thus, they exposed 20 such animals and 12 mice and rats to two carcinogen compounds. After a while, they checked to see which of them had developed malignant tumors.
They found that, whereas all the mice and rats used in these experiments had developed cancer as a result of their having been exposed to either of the two carcinogen agents, just one blind mole-rat had ended up suffering from cancer.
What's more, the blind mole-rat that did fall sick was more than 10 years old. Therefore, it is likely that its age also played a part in promoting the formation of tumors.
The researchers theorize that this species of rodents is made immune to cancer by the same anatomical adaptations that allow it to survive in the underground, i.e. in an environment whose oxygen concentration is fairly low.
Such environments are known as hypoxic, EurekAlert tells us. By the looks of it, blind-mole rats carry certain genes that not only prolong its life span and allow it to survive on little oxygen, but also suppress the formation of cancerous tumors.
“We've shown that, compared to mice and rats, blind mole-rats are highly resistant to carcinogens. We think that these three phenomena are tied in together: the hypoxia tolerance, the longevity and cancer resistance,” researcher Mark Band says.
“We think all result from evolutionary adaptations to a stressful environment,” he adds.
Future investigations into how and why blind mole-rats almost never get cancer are expect to lead to better treatment options for human patients.
Interestingly enough, naked mole-rats have also been documented to be immune to cancer.