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Contagious Cancer Found in Dogs

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the heavy-petting dept.

Dan East writes "Scientists in England have gathered definitive evidence that a kind of cancer in dogs, known as Sticker's sarcoma, is contagious. It is spread by tumor cells getting passed from dog to dog through sex or from animals biting or licking each other. Robin Weiss and his colleagues did genetic studies on the tumor cells from 40 dogs with Sticker's sarcoma, collected from five continents, which showed that all the tumor cells are clones of each other. The parent cell probably arose in a domesticated dog of Asian origin — perhaps a husky — hundreds of years ago, and perhaps more than 1,000 years ago. A similarly transmissible cancer has recently been discovered spreading through populations of Tasmanian devils."

8 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. Transmitted through sex? by ArcherB · · Score: 4, Funny

    Great! Now I have to give my dogs a talking-to about using protection before they go to the doggie park!

    I wonder if they will start having puppy prophylactics in a candy dish at pet-smart.

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    1. Re:Transmitted through sex? by krawz · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hopefully the people at PetSmart will handle the...application...of the aforementioned 'protection', because I know I'm not. Imagine the Want Ad... PetSmart, Inc is now seeking a full-time Canine Fornication Specialist. 1+ year(s) previous CFS experience preferred. Dust off your rubber glove and drop off your application today!

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    2. Re:Transmitted through sex? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Funny
      Christ, it's hard enough to get them to take their vitamins. Putting one of those on 'em is gonna be a pain.

      "Hold on, boy, there's an air bubble."

      Well, by the time you work out the air-bubble, he might just want a smoke and a cuddle. Then you won't have to worry about him humping strange dogs. :-P

      Cheers
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  2. It happens in humans, too. by Skynet · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPV#Cancer

    Make sure to use protection, Slashdotters!

    oh wait....

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  3. Not Taz!! by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny
    A similarly transmissible cancer has recently been discovered spreading through populations of Tasmanian devils.
    Symptoms include dizziness, slurred speech, and violence toward woodland creatures... especially rabbits.
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  4. Re:tasmanian devil & spreading cancer by GweeDo · · Score: 4, Funny

    But who will eat all the pizza rolls?

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  5. Re:How are these Cancer Cells? by NearlyHeadless · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's closest, really, to a parasite, but it's still weirder than that, since it's genetically the same species as its host.
    It's genetically almost identical, but I think we can say this is a new species. It's thus a single-cell species of dog.
  6. Ssshhhh! by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Funny

    2. I'd choose bark park with a 3/4 life span vs. no fun for a long time and all the other dogs I know agree.

    Sshhh! Sshh! What are you doing? On the internet, no one's supposed to know that you're a dog!

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