Why is Elephant Cancer Rare? Answer Might Help Treat Humans

On Thursday, October 8, 2015 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, new studies were published about a cancer suppressing gene found in elephants and many other species.  Dr. Schiffman, a pediatric cancer specialist at the University of Utah, lead a team of researchers in a dealing with p53, a gene that prevents cancer in elephants as well as humans and other species.  Elephants possess a vast amount of p53 compared to humans and other species smaller than them.  This is because of a condition possessed by elephants called Li-Fraumeni syndrome (a syndrome that increases an elephant’s chance of developing cancer).  This syndrome is also found in other species including humans.  The p53 gene in species possessing it, cause unhealthy cells to self-destruct when affected with radiation or other carcinogens.  Dr. Schiffman’s team made comparisons of the effects of radiation to the cells of elephants, cells form ten healthy humans and ten human patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome.  It was found that cells of the elephants self-destruct at a rate two times faster than that of healthy humans and humans with Li-Fraumeni syndrome.  This is because of the vast amount of copies of the gene that elephants possess.  Humans have only one gene compared to the elephants’ twenty copies.  Although cancer is rare in elephants, it does not mean that it does not exist.  Schiffman’s team found that although elephants sometimes live as long as humans do, only 1 in 20 dies of cancer as opposed to 1 in 4 humans dying from cancer.  

These findings can aid in gene therapy as well as help with the development of new drugs to treat those with cancer.  This could also be a breakthrough to help many with the many different cancers that are inherited from generation to generation. 

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