Is cancer of the colon familial in cotton-top tamarins?

Ten cases of spontaneous adenocarcinoma of the colon were observed in first-generation Saguinus oedipus oedipus born and raised under defined colony conditions. In this series of 10 cases, 3 animals had a wild parent (caught and imported) that also died of cancer of the colon and 4 of the remaining 7 were two unrelated sets of siblings (one a set of fraternal twins). This somewhat unexpected familial association or clustering of these malignancies suggests the possibility of a significant hereditary component to the development of cancer in these tamarins. The histopathology of the tumors in S. o. oedipus is compatible with a genetic influence, as it is strikingly similar to a dominantly inherited mucoid adenocarcinoma of the colon in humans.