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Scientists discover how naked mole rats stay cancer-free

Naked mole rats are the only known animals in the world that don't get cancer. Now scientists know why, and it may be the key to the cure.
By Bryan Nelson
Tue, Oct 27 2009 at 2:30 AM EST
Read more: ANIMAL RESEARCH, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

NAKED RATS: They can live for as long as 30 years, have an immunity to cancer, and live in insect-like societies. (Photo: Riude/Flickr)
They may not win many beauty contests, but naked mole rats have long caught the eyes of scientists working to find the cure to cancer. These strange, bald rodents are the only animals in the world that appear to be completely immune to the disease. Now researchers at the University of Rochester think they may have unlocked their secret.
 
The findings, which were published recently in an issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bring optimism that the cure to cancer may not be far off. Even more encouraging, scientists traced the naked mole rats' ability to stay tumorless to the operation of a single gene.
 
Dubbed 'p16', the gene works by making cells "claustrophobic", essentially keeping them from replicating when too many crowd together. Since cancer is caused by runaway cell growth, the gene acts as a fail-safe mechanism, preventing cell proliferation from cascading out of control.
 
"It's very early to speculate about the implications, but if the effect of p16 can be simulated in humans, we might have a way to halt cancer before it starts," said University of Rochester researchers Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov.
 
The exciting discovery comes at the end of an unusual three-year journey for Gorbunova and Seluanov, who have been investigating rodents of all kinds from around the world to see how they each deal with cancer differently.
 
It turns out that naked mole rats are particularly unusual when put in a context with most other small-bodied mammals. Aside from their hairless bodies and the fact that they form communities that consist of queens and workers more reminiscent of bees or ants than rodents, they also live longer — a lot longer. Some naked mole rats have been known to live more than 30 years.
 
Of course, the fact that they're resistant to cancer helps to explain how they can live so long. But that longer lifespan means that there's even more time for cells to grow cancerous, a fact which made the mystery as to how the depilated rodents remain cancer-free all the more intriguing.
 
Now that the mystery is solved, it almost seems apt: It may be that the key to curing cancer for the hairless ape rests in understanding the tiny, bizarre biology of the hairless rat.


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Posted By Rich artichoker - Mon, Dec 07 2009 at 6:00 PM EST

Scientists discover how naked mole rats stay cancer free

The premise of this article is that naked mole rats have a gene that not only limits cell growth, but also that somehow this is a mechanism that is exclusive to mole rats. this is an erroneous assumption. we have known for a long time that cell growth in normal tissue is limited by a mechanism called "contact inhibition" we each have the beginnings of tumors starting in our bodies all the time and it is this mechanism called contact inhibition that keeps things in check. it is only when this.... More

Posted By b4s - Wed, Dec 02 2009 at 11:52 PM EST

rate

super.

2015, medicine cures cancer. 2030, world population exceeds 10B, a huge percentage living in poverty. 2036, Apophis ruins the human population anyway.

nature ftw.

Posted By domesticated primate - Fri, Oct 30 2009 at 11:16 AM EST

Hoax Alert!

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/cancer-tips-john-hopkins.shtml

Posted By Steve - Thu, Oct 29 2009 at 10:52 AM EST

Sharks

Sharks are highly resistant to cancers as well as disease but this has to do with the fundamental differences between the shark and higher vertebrate immune systems. Without being technical about it sharks essentially eliminate waste products much more efficiently than we do. However, when sharks are placed in areas high in human contaminants and pollution they are susceptible to cancer.

Posted By Brandon - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 9:54 PM EST

Johns Hopkins Did Not Publish Cancer Update

@ Steven: http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cancerupdate.asp

Posted By George - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 7:31 PM EST

More Detail Please

@Steven: Thanks for the comment, but it was kind of skimpy, don't you think? Next time give more details and flesh out your ideas a little more so readers will know what you were trying to convey.

Posted By Steven - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 6:41 PM EST

Good but on the wrong track

Curing Cancer with Baking Soda:

What MD’s and Naturopaths Don’t Know
by Gregory Delaney

Wouldn’t the delusional physicians and the big pharmacology swindlers be embarrassed to find that cancer could be cured with nothing more complicated than ordinary baking soda? Well, no, they wouldn’t be embarrassed because they would be outraged. All of their billions in profits vanishing in a twinkle, would not have these betrayers of Mankind at all happy with such a simple.... More

Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 6:21 PM EST

Patent Law - US

naturally occurring substances and processes are not patentable in the United States.

Posted By Dave S. - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 2:32 PM EST

They'll patent the gene

Big Pharma will probably patent the gene referred to as p16. It's sickening that research and cures be brought to a grinding halt through those means. Profits are clearly more important than human life.

Posted By JL - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 1:20 PM EST

They Don't Smoke

They Still Don't Smoke

Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 12:25 PM EST

Sharks do get cancer

I wouldn't think so either, but I found this article:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Sharks_Get_Cancer.asp

unfortunately, i see the second post occurring sometime soon in the future...

Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 12:26 PM EST

oops

by second i mean first, because apparently i ignored the date and time...

Posted By Cannor Milos - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 6:21 AM EST

Sharks?

Aren't sharks immune to cancer as well?

Posted By Phil E. Drifter - Wed, Oct 28 2009 at 12:05 AM EST

Big Pharma to lobby Congress

Big Pharma to lobby congress to outlaw this in 3...2...1...

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