Do Insects Develop Cancer?

[Marcus Williams]

I was just curious as to the question stated on whether or not insects develop cancer? If anyone has any information on this topic or has an opinion, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Moontanman]

I was just curious as to the question stated on whether or not insects develop cancer? If anyone has any information on this topic or has an opinion, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

 

I see no reason why insects couldn't get cancer, they live such fast furious lives i wouldn't expect to see it in natural populations with much frequency...

 

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/13/1/73.abstract

[Dekan]

Insects have very small bodies. So they've only got a small number of body cells which might become cancerous.

 

Whereas big animals - such as humans - have far more cells. This abundance of cells, offers far more opportunity for cancer to start.

Therefore one might expect cancer to be much more common in big animals, than in small ones.

 

Also, insects have fewer specialised internal organs.

 

For example, no insect could get lung cancer, because it hasn't got any lungs.

[Arete]

Therefore one might expect cancer to be much more common in big animals, than in small ones.

 

An assumption that' Peto's paradox shows to be false. Cancer development does not correlate with body size:

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534711000152

http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/2/317.full

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2688871/

 

 

Also, insects have fewer specialised internal organs.

 

Again trivially proven false by basic arthropod taxonomy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_physiology

 

Insects have all the major systems (i.e. respiratory, circulatory, digestive, neural, muscular, endocrine, reproductive, etc) vertebrates have.

 

Not much research has been done on the rate of cancer in insects, however their relatively short life cycles probably limit the degree to which cancers impact their life histories. We also know that some insects produce chemicals which suppress the growth of tumors. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0952791595800220

[Dekan]

An assumption that' Peto's paradox shows to be false. Cancer development does not correlate with body size:

 

http://www.sciencedi...169534711000152

http://icb.oxfordjou...t/47/2/317.full

http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC2688871/

 

 

 

 

Again trivially proven false by basic arthropod taxonomy. http://en.wikipedia....sect_physiology

 

Insects have all the major systems (i.e. respiratory, circulatory, digestive, neural, muscular, endocrine, reproductive, etc) vertebrates have.

 

Not much research has been done on the rate of cancer in insects, however their relatively short life cycles probably limit the degree to which cancers impact their life histories. We also know that some insects produce chemicals which suppress the growth of tumors. http://www.sciencedi...952791595800220

 

Thanks Arete.

 

You seem to be suggesting that arthropods are the same as vertebrates, as regards body systems. But is that true - for example, may I ask this question:

Can arthropods survive nuclear radiation better than vertebrates? I know the answer's "yes" - but why?

 

Is it because arthropods have less complex internal organs, which can better withstand, and repair, radiation-induced cellular damage.

If so, doesn't it seem possible that arthropods might also be less susceptible to cancer-induced damage?

[Marcus Williams]

Thank you all for this discussion. It seems that much of the time it is not given much thought as to whether insects can develop cancer. But I believe as future research improves regarding cancer, I believe that insects could possibly provide many major contributions and new research areas.

 

Better yet can arachnids develop cancer?

 

 

[overtone]

In sufficiently long-lived insects, cancers can be induced in the lab by injury or insult of various kinds. For example:

http://cancerres.aac...3/1/73.full.pdf

 

There seems to be no reason injury or insult in the wild would not have such effects.

 

In addition to being smaller and shorter lived, though, insects often lack certain repair and regrowth mechanisms common in vertebrates - at least, as adults. So they lack a couple of the common routes to cancer development in vertebrates.

Edited November 13, 2012 by overtone

[Marcus Williams]

We know that all living organisms that possess cells have some form of tumor suppressor gene. How many variations of this gene are known? Do insects possess an abundance of these or could it be that their tumor suppressor genes work better. Could it even be that once cancer metastisizes that insects have a defense that prevents cancer cell adhesion?