Sharks Get Cancer, Mole Rats Don't

How Animals Could Hold the Key to Unlocking Cancer Immunity in Humans

James S. Welsh, MD

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN:
  9781633881556
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Diseases & Allergies

This fresh and fascinating exploration of new directions in cancer research focuses on the important role of the immune system in combatting this dread disease. Integrating clues from the animal kingdom, the veterinary clinic, extraordinary human cases, and even embryology, the author-a cancer physician, biologist, and physicist-creates a novel and compelling account of tumor immunology and the promises of immunotherapy. As the author explains, animals offer us many tantalizing clues about the nature of cancer in humans. Tasmanian devils are on the verge of extinction due to a virulent form of contagious cancer; soft-shelled clams on the East coast of North America are vanishing due to another epidemic of contagious cancer; dogs also contract a contagious cancer but they spontaneously overcome it; and a type of mouse and the homely mole rat are not susceptible to the disease at all. In humans, there are rare instances of spontaneous cures of advanced cancers induced by radiation. An uncommon form of dwarfism called Laron syndrome confers total cancer immunity on the people who inherit the condition. And recent research suggests that cancer has stolen the secret that shields the embryo against hostile attacks from the mother's immune system. The author makes a convincing case that what all of these diverse examples have in common is the immune system and its ability or inability to respond to malignancies. He concludes with a review of the exciting research on the human immune system and the development of new treatments that are inducing the immune system to combat and conquer even the deadliest cancers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• CONTENTS
• Preface
• Chapter 1: What Just Happened?
• Chapter 2: Action at a Distance
• Chapter 3: Disappearing Devils
• Chapter 4: The Devil Himself: Some Diabolical Biology
• Chapter 5: Devil of a Disease
• Chapter 6: The Perfect Parasite
• Chapter 7: A Malignant Malady in Man's Best Friend
• Chapter 8: The Curious Case of Coley's Toxins (Or Sometimes the Treatment Worked)
• Chapter 9: The Dog Knows
• Chapter 10: Males Need Not Apply
• Chapter 11: Could Brown Fat Be the Secret to Weight Loss?
• Chapter 12: Gamma Rays and Dinosaur Cancer
• Chapter 13: Cancer of the Clam!
• Chapter 14: Sharks Do Get Cancer (Or How Shark Cartilage Can Kill You)
• Chapter 15: Who Truly Doesn't Get Cancer?—Meet the Mole Rats
• Chapter 16: Par for the Course
• Chapter 17: Mighty Mouse to the Rescue!
• Chapter 18: Frodo of Flores
• Chapter 19: A Cancer-Free Clan?
• Chapter 20: Cancer: A Disease of Immune Failure?
• Chapter 21: Malignant Cargo
• Chapter 22: The Power of the Immune System
• Chapter 23: Man Dies of Ovarian Cancer
• Chapter 24: Man's Life Saved by Mosquito Bite
• Chapter 25: Moles, Moles, and More Moles
• Chapter 26: Tumors through the Wormhole
• Chapter 27: The Imposter
• Chapter 28: Competition: The Cause of the Cellular Disease
• Chapter 29: A Standard Model of Molecular Oncology
• Chapter 30: Runaway Train!
• Chapter 31: Order Out of Chaos
• Chapter 32: Immune Theory of Cancer
• Chapter 33: What Can Cows Teach Us about Conquering Cancer?
• Chapter 34: Tough Mothers and Juvenile Delinquents
• Chapter 35: As Crazy as the Quantum Café
• Chapter 36: Connected Dots: Looking Back and Glimpsing the Future
• Acknowledgments
• Photo Insert
• Appendix: Images with Extended Captions
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index