Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Ponder the Prospect of Contagious Cancer (cnbc.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the lets-hope-this-doesnt-come-true dept.

Cancer causes many deaths each year, and anyone that's lost someone to cancer knows how painful and grueling it can be. The one saving grace is that it ultimately only kills the host. But is this changing? According to several recent papers, scientists have suggested that cancer could become contagious. Cancer cells could have the ability to metastasize, not just from organ to organ, but from person to person. While this is not an imminent threat, it has already happened in unusual circumstances.

2 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. See Tazmanian Devil cancer outbreak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apparently the Tazmanian Devils in Tazmania are currently suffering for a contagious cancer outbreak. Devils get into fights and claw each other's noses, the cancer cells transfer into the wounds and multiply. Screws up their faces.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease

    So for humans, it would be sorta like a zombie-like plague...

  2. Re:If Hitler had won by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Um, nothing in the article said anything about cancer becoming airborne. I didn't think it was fear mongering at all. Instead, it suggested that cancer spreading from one host to another is within the realm of possibility and not that it's likely to occur in humans.

    There are diseases that are transmissible in humans that can cause cancer. HPV is an example. The article makes it pretty clear that in just about every case there are enough defenses to make it impossible. For it to occur, it must be easy for cancer cells to pass from one person to another. Accidentally injecting oneself with cancer is a way for it to happen. The other example involved a person whose immune system was compromised and the source of the cancer was a parasite. Because conditions like this are rarely met, it's virtually impossible for cancer to be transmitted from one person to another.

    It seems like there has to be an easy pathway for many cancer cells to move from one person to another. This is extremely rare. It also seems like compromising or fooling the immune system makes it far more likely to occur. This is far more likely to occur among animals than among humans. I think the article makes it clear that what's possible isn't likely nor is it a threat right now.

    I don't get your criticism of the article.