A phylogenetic review of cancer resistance highlights evolutionary solutions to Peto's Paradox

Author(s)

Nery, Mariana F. ; Renno, Mathias ; Picorelli, Agnello ; Ramos, Elisa

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; v. 45, n. 3, p. 10-pg., 2022-01-01.

Abstract

Cancer is a genetic disease present in all complex multicellular lineages. Finding ways to eliminate it is a goal of a large part of the scientific community and nature itself. Early, scientists realized that the cancer incidence at the species level was not related to the number of cells or lifespan, a phenomenon called Peto's Paradox. The interest in resolving this paradox triggered a growing interest in investigating the natural strategies for cancer suppression hidden in the animal's genomes. Here, we gathered information on the main mechanisms that confer resistance to cancer, currently described for lineages that have representatives with extended longevity and large body sizes. Some mechanisms to reduce or evade cancer are common and shared between lineages, while others are species-specific. The diversity of paths that evolution followed to face the cancer challenge involving coding, regulatory, and structural aspects of genomes is astonishing and much yet lacks discovery. Multidisciplinary studies involving oncology, ecology, and evolutionary biology and focusing on nonmodel species can greatly expand the frontiers of knowledge about cancer resistance in animals and may guide new promising treatments and prevention that might apply to humans. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/01236-1 - Evolution of new environments colonization in mammals: investigating the molecular footprints of fluvial environment colonization and the osmoregulation system
• Grantee: Elisa Karen da Silva Ramos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 21/03325-4 - Developing an analytical pipeline for bioinformatic analyses in comparative genomics
• Grantee: Agnello César Rios Picorelli
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Technical Training Program - Technical Training
• FAPESP's process: 15/18269-1 - Using comparative genomics to understand convergent evolution of mammals: tracking the molecular footprints of the marine and riverine environment colonisation
• Grantee: Mariana Freitas Nery
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants