Delaney M A, Ward J M, Walsh T F, Chinnadurai S K, Kerns K, Kinsel M J, Treuting P M
Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Global VetPathology, Montgomery Village, MD, USA.
Vet Pathol. 2016 May;53(3):691-6. doi: 10.1177/0300985816630796. Epub 2016 Feb 4.
Naked mole-rats (NMRs;Heterocephalus glaber) are highly adapted, eusocial rodents renowned for their extreme longevity and resistance to cancer. Because cancer has not been formally described in this species, NMRs have been increasingly utilized as an animal model in aging and cancer research. We previously reported the occurrence of several age-related diseases, including putative pre-neoplastic lesions, in zoo-housed NMR colonies. Here, we report for the first time 2 cases of cancer in zoo-housed NMRs. In Case No. 1, we observed a subcutaneous mass in the axillary region of a 22-year-old male NMR, with histologic, immunohistochemical (pancytokeratin positive, rare p63 immunolabeling, and smooth muscle actin negative), and ultrastructural characteristics of an adenocarcinoma possibly of mammary or salivary origin. In Case No. 2, we observed a densely cellular, poorly demarcated gastric mass of polygonal cells arranged in nests with positive immunolabeling for synaptophysin and chromogranin indicative of a neuroendocrine carcinoma in an approximately 20-year-old male NMR. We also include a brief discussion of other proliferative growths and pre-cancerous lesions diagnosed in 1 zoo colony. Although these case reports do not alter the longstanding observation of cancer resistance, they do raise questions about the scope of cancer resistance and the interpretation of biomedical studies in this model. These reports also highlight the benefit of long-term disease investigations in zoo-housed populations to better understand naturally occurring disease processes in species used as models in biomedical research.
裸鼹鼠(NMRs;Heterocephalus glaber)是高度适应环境的群居性啮齿动物,以其极长的寿命和抗癌能力而闻名。由于该物种尚未有癌症的正式报道,裸鼹鼠越来越多地被用作衰老和癌症研究的动物模型。我们之前报道过圈养在动物园的裸鼹鼠群体中出现了几种与年龄相关的疾病,包括疑似癌前病变。在此,我们首次报告了2例圈养在动物园的裸鼹鼠患癌症的病例。在病例1中,我们在一只22岁雄性裸鼹鼠的腋窝区域观察到一个皮下肿块,其组织学、免疫组织化学(全细胞角蛋白阳性,罕见p63免疫标记,平滑肌肌动蛋白阴性)以及超微结构特征表明可能是起源于乳腺或唾液腺的腺癌。在病例2中,我们在一只约20岁雄性裸鼹鼠中观察到一个细胞密集、边界不清的胃部肿块,由呈巢状排列的多边形细胞组成,突触素和嗜铬粒蛋白免疫标记呈阳性,提示为神经内分泌癌。我们还简要讨论了在一个动物园群体中诊断出的其他增殖性生长和癌前病变。尽管这些病例报告并未改变长期以来关于裸鼹鼠抗癌能力的观察结果,但它们确实引发了关于抗癌能力范围以及该模型中生物医学研究解读的问题。这些报告还强调了对圈养动物群体进行长期疾病调查的益处,以便更好地了解用作生物医学研究模型的物种中自然发生的疾病过程。
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