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Initial Case Reports of Cancer in Naked Mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber).
- Source :
-
Veterinary pathology [Vet Pathol] 2016 May; Vol. 53 (3), pp. 691-6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Feb 04. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Naked mole-rats (NMRs;Heterocephalus glaber) are highly adapted, eusocial rodents renowned for their extreme longevity and resistance to cancer. Because cancer has not been formally described in this species, NMRs have been increasingly utilized as an animal model in aging and cancer research. We previously reported the occurrence of several age-related diseases, including putative pre-neoplastic lesions, in zoo-housed NMR colonies. Here, we report for the first time 2 cases of cancer in zoo-housed NMRs. In Case No. 1, we observed a subcutaneous mass in the axillary region of a 22-year-old male NMR, with histologic, immunohistochemical (pancytokeratin positive, rare p63 immunolabeling, and smooth muscle actin negative), and ultrastructural characteristics of an adenocarcinoma possibly of mammary or salivary origin. In Case No. 2, we observed a densely cellular, poorly demarcated gastric mass of polygonal cells arranged in nests with positive immunolabeling for synaptophysin and chromogranin indicative of a neuroendocrine carcinoma in an approximately 20-year-old male NMR. We also include a brief discussion of other proliferative growths and pre-cancerous lesions diagnosed in 1 zoo colony. Although these case reports do not alter the longstanding observation of cancer resistance, they do raise questions about the scope of cancer resistance and the interpretation of biomedical studies in this model. These reports also highlight the benefit of long-term disease investigations in zoo-housed populations to better understand naturally occurring disease processes in species used as models in biomedical research.<br /> (© The Author(s) 2016.)
- Subjects :
- Adenocarcinoma diagnosis
Adenocarcinoma pathology
Aging
Animals
Animals, Zoo
Axilla
Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine diagnosis
Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine pathology
Disease Models, Animal
Gastric Mucosa pathology
Longevity
Male
Rodent Diseases pathology
Skin Neoplasms diagnosis
Skin Neoplasms pathology
Stomach Neoplasms diagnosis
Stomach Neoplasms pathology
Adenocarcinoma veterinary
Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine veterinary
Mole Rats
Rodent Diseases diagnosis
Skin Neoplasms veterinary
Stomach Neoplasms veterinary
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1544-2217
- Volume :
- 53
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Veterinary pathology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 26846576
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985816630796