A mysterious contagious cancer which plagues dogs throughout the world may be the first truly transmittable cancer known, a new study suggests.
The cancer cells themselves move directly from dog to dog, acting “parasitically” on each infected animal, the researchers say.
Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) spreads between dogs through sex or other forms of contact, such as licking and biting, they believe.
Previously, viruses were suspected of spreading CTVT in the same way that the human papilloma virus – found in genital warts – spreads cervical cancer to women through sex.
But a new genetic analysis shows that the dog cancer cells are direct descendents of tumour cells from the long-dead animal in which the disease originated. source