A recent study has revealed that the notable similarities between cancers in cats and those in humans could help researchers develop improved treatments for both...READ FULL; FROM THE SOURCE.
The study, published in The Journal Science on Thursday, analysed 13 types of cancer in cats using tissue samples collected by veterinarians from nearly 500 domestic animals across five countries.
Researchers sequenced DNA from both tumour and healthy tissues, examining around 1,000 genes known to be linked to cancer in humans.
The team, led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, found that cats exhibited genetic mutations similar to those seen in humans in cases involving blood, bone, lung, skin, gastrointestinal and central nervous system tumours.
The findings revealed that many of the genes driving cancer in cats are also present in humans, suggesting that both species share key biological mechanisms that enable tumours to develop and spread.
They also found important details about cat breast cancers.
More than half of the cases had a mutation in a gene known as FBXW7. While this mutation is rare in human breast cancer, it is linked to a poorer prognosis when it does occur.
The researchers discovered that chemotherapy drugs such as vincristine and vinorelbine were able to slow the growth of tumours carrying the FBXW7 mutation in cat tissues.
Louise Van Der Weyden, the lead author of the study, revealed that clinical trials in cats with mammary cancer could help provide valuable insights for treating similar breast cancers in humans.
“Since vincristine is already in use in both human and veterinary clinics, it offers the opportunity for use in a clinical trial in felines with mammary cancer, with the results being extremely informative for human breast cancer patients,” Weyden said.
The researchers further explained that while cancer research has been widely conducted in dogs, cats have largely remained unexplored.
The researchers added that both cats and dogs may help scientists understand environmental factors linked to certain cancers because they share living spaces with humans and are exposed to similar environmental conditions.
“Cat cancer genetics has totally been a black box up until now. The more we can understand about cancer in any species has got to be beneficial for everybody,” Weyden added.
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