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Department of Veterinary Medicine

Cambridge Veterinary School
 

Transmissible cancers

Professor Elizabeth Murchison leads the Transmissible Cancer Group at the Department of Veterinary Medicine.

Research

Transmissible cancers are malignant clonal cell lineages that spread through populations via the physical transfer of living cancer cells. There are only three known naturally occurring clonally transmissible cancers affecting mammals. These are the canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), Tasmanian devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) and devil facial tumour 2 (DFT2). CTVT affects dogs, is spread during mating and manifests as genital tumours; DFT2 and DFT2 both affect Tasmanian devils, are spread by biting, and cause facial tumours. We study how transmissible cancers arise, how they adapt to their hosts, and how they overcome host immune defences. We also study genetic factors influencing host susceptibility, disease pathogenesis and treatment responses. Transmissible cancers are a unique and poorly understood type of disease whose biology provides a unique perspective on cancer evolution.

Publications

Key publications: 

TCG members in italics.

Ní Leathlobhair M, Yetsko K, Farrell JA, Iaria C, Marino G, Duffy DJ, Murchison EP 2021Genotype data not consistent with clonal transmission of sea turtle fibropapillomatosis or goldfish schwannoma. Wellcome Open Research. 6:219

Kwon YM*, Gori K*, Park N, Potts N, Swift K, Wang J, Stammnitz MR, Cannell N, Baez-Ortega A, Comte S, Fox S, Harmsen C, Huxtable S, Jones M, Kreiss A, Lawrence C, Lazenby B, Peck S, Pye R, Woods G, Zimmermann M, Wedge DC, Pemberton D, Stratton MR, Hamede R, Murchison EP 2020. Evolution and lineage dynamics of a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. PLOS Biology. 18(11): e3000926. 24 November. * These authors contributed equally to this work.

Strakova A, Nicholls TJ*, Baez-Ortega A*, Ni Leathlobhair MSampson AT, Hughes K, Bolton IAGGori KWang J, Airikkala-Otter I, Allen JL, Allum KM, Arnold CL, Bansse-Issa L, Bhutia TN, Bisson JL, Blank K, Briceno C, Castillo Domracheva A, Corrigan AM, Cran HR, Crawford JT, Cutter SM, Davis E, de Castro KF, De Nardi AB, de Vos AP, Delgadillo Keenan L, Donelan EM, Espinoza Huerta AR, Faramade IA, Fazil M, Fotopoulou E, Fruean SN, Gallardo-Arrieta F, Glebova O, Gouletsou PG, Hafelin Manrique RF, Henriques J, Horta RS, Ignatenko N, Kane Y, King C, Koenig D, Krupa A, Kruzeniski SJ, Lanza-Perea M, Lazyan M, Lopez Quintana AM, Losfelt T, Marino G, Martinez Castaneda S, Martinez-Lopez MF, Masuruli BM, Meyer M, Migneco EJ, Nakanwagi B, Neal KB, Neunzig W, Nixon SJ, Ortega-Pacheco A, Pedraza-Ordonez F, Peleteiro MC, Polak K, Pye RJ, Ramirez-Ante JC, Reece JF, Rojas Gutierrez J, Sadia H, Schmeling SK, Shamanova O, Sherlock AG, Steenland-Smit AE, Svitich A, Tapia Martinez LJ, Thoya Ngoka I, Torres CG, Tudor EM, van der Wel MG, Vitalaru BA, Vural SA, Walkinton O, Wehrle-Martinez AS, Widdowson SAE, Zvarich I, Chinnery PF, Falkenberg M, Gustafsson CM, Murchison EP2020. Recurrent horizontal transfer identifies mitochondrial positive selection in a transmissible cancer. Nature Communications. Nat Commun 11, 3059. *These authors contributed equally to this work.

Baez-Ortega A, Gori K*, Strakova A*, Airikkala-Otter I, Allen JL, Allum KM, Bansse-Issa L, Bhutia TN, Bisson JL, Briceño C, Castillo Domracheva A, Corrigan AM, Hugh R. Cran HR, Crawford JT, Davis E, de Castro KF, De Nardi AB, de Vos AP, Delgadillo Keenan L, Donelan EM, Espinoza Huerta AR, Faramade IA, Fazil F, Fotopoulou E, Fruean SN, Gallardo-Arrieta F, Glebova O, Gouletsou PG, Häfelin Manrique RF, Henriques JJGP, Horta RS, Ignatenko N, Kane Y, King C, Koenig D, Krupa A, Kruzeniski SJ, Kwon YM, Lanza-Perea, Lazyan M, Lopez Quintana AM, Losfelt T, Marino G, Martínez Castañeda S, Martínez-López MF, Masuruli BM, Meyer M, Migneco EJ, Nakanwagi BN, Neal K, Neunzig W, Ní Leathlobhair M, Nixon SJ, Onsare MM, Ortega-Pacheco A, Pedraza-Ordoñez F, Peleteiro MC, Polak K, Pye RJ, Reece JF, Rojas Gutierrez J, Sadia H, Schmeling SK, Shamanova O, Sherlock AG, Stammnitz M, Steenland-Smit AE, Svitich A, Swarisch I, Tapia Martínez LJ, Thoya Ngoka IT, Torres CG, Tudor EM, van der Wel MG, Vițălaru BA, Vural SA, Walkinton W, Wang J, Wehrle-Martinez AS, Widdowson SAE, Stratton MR, Alexandrov LB, Martincorena I, Murchison EP. 2019. Somatic evolution and global expansion of an ancient transmissible cancer lineage. Science. Aug 2; 365(6452) *These authors contributed equally to this work.

Patchett AL, Coorens THH, Darby J, Wilson R, McKay MJ, Kamath KS, Rubin A, Wakefield M, Mcintosh L, Mangiola S, Pye RJ, Flies AS, Corcoran LM, Lyons AB, Woods GM, Murchison EP, Papenfuss AT, Tovar C. 2019. Two of a kind: transmissible Schwann cell cancers in the endangered Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Cell Mol Life Sci. Aug 2 doi: 10.1007/s00018-019-03259-2

James S, Jennings G, Kwon YM, Stammnitz M, Fraik A, Storfer A, Comte S, Pemberton D, Fox S, Brown B, Pye R, Woods G, Lyons B, Hohenlohe P, McCallum H, Siddle S, Thomas F, Ujvari B, Murchison EP, Jones M, Hamede R. 2019. Tracing the rise of malignant cell lines: Distribution, epidemiology and evolution of two transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils. Evolutionary Applications. 14 June.

Wong K, van der Weyden L, Schott CR, Foote A, Constantino-Casas F, Smith S, Dobson JM, Murchison EP, Wu H, Yeh I, Fullen DR, Joseph N, Bastian BC, Patel RM, Martincorena I, Robles-Espinoza CD, Iyer V, Kuijjer ML, Arends MJ, Brenn T, Harms PW, Wood GA, Adams DJ. 2019. Cross-species genomic landscape comparison of human mucosal melanoma with canine oral and equine melanoma. Nat Commun. Jan 21;10(1):353. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08081-1.

Kosack L, Wingelhofer B, Popa A, Vilagos B, Majek P, Parapatics K, Lercher A, Agerer B, Ringler A, Klughammer J, Smyth M, Khamina K, Rosa DA, Park J, Gunning PT, Bock C, Kubicek S, Murchison EP, Bennett KL, Moriggl R, Bergthaler A 2018 ERBB-STAT3 axis drives Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease. Cancer Cell. Jan 14;35(1):125-139.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2018.11.018

Ní Leathlobhair M, Perri AR, Irving-Pease EK, Witt KE, Linderholm A, Haile J,, Lebrasseur O, Ameen C, Blick J, Boyko AR, Brace S, Nunes Cortes Y, Crockford SJ, Dimopoulos EA, Eldridge M, Gopalakrishnan S, Gori KC, Grimes V, Guiry E, Hansen AJ, Hulme-Beaman A, Johnson J, Kitchen A, Kwon YM, Lope CP, Manin A, Martin T, Meyer M, Myers KN, Omura M, Sciulli P, Sinding MS, Strakova A, Widga C, Willerslev E, Barnes I, Gilbert MTP, Dobney KM, Malhi RS, Murchison EP*, Larson G*, Frantz LAF* 2018 The Evolutionary History of Dogs in the Americas. Science. Jul 6;361(6397):81-85. doi: 10.1126/science.aao4776

Kwon YM, Stammnitz MR, Wang J, Swift K, Knowles GW, Pye RJ, Kreiss A, Peck S, Fox S, Pemberton D, Jones ME, Hamede R, Murchison EP 2018 Tasman-PCR: A genetic diagnostic assay for Tasmanian devil facial tumour diseases. Royal Soc Open Sci. Oct 3, doi:10.1098/rsos.180870 (10 pages)

Caldwell A, Coleby R, Tovar C, Stammnitz MR, Mi Kwon YM, Tringides M, Murchison EP, Skjødt K, Thomas GJ, Kaufman J, Elliott T, Woods G, Siddle HV 2018 The newly-arisen Devil facial tumour disease 2 (DFT2) reveals a mechanism for the emergence of a contagious cancer. eLife. pii: e35314. doi: 10.7554/eLife.35314 (18 pages)

Stammnitz MR, Coorens THH, Gori KC, Hayes D, Fu B, Wang J, Martin-Herranz DE, Alexandrov LB, Baez-Ortega A, Barthorpe S, Beck A, Giordano F, Knowles GW, Kwon YM, Hall G, Price S, Pye RJ, Tubio JMC, V.T. Siddle HVT, Sohal, SS, Woods GM, McDermott U, Yang F, Garnett MJ, Ning Z, Murchison EP 2018 The origins and vulnerabilities of two transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils. Cancer Cell. 33:607-61

Dr Elizabeth  Murchison
Professor of Comparative Oncology and Genetics
Takes PhD students
Not available for consultancy

Affiliations

Classifications: 
Person keywords: 
Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT)
Transmissible cancers
Tasmanian devil facial tumour diseases
Funding: 
Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal
Wellcome Trust