CANCER PARASITISM: Immune Mechanisms of Transmissible Cancers in Bivalves

Contagious marine cancers represent a fascinating, non-classical, and unexplored “host-pathogen system.” Contagious cancers are malignant cell lines that are transmitted from one host individual to another, making them comparable to horizontally transmitted parasitic microorganisms. In nature, only eleven species with contagious cancer are known, nine of which are marine bivalves (several species of clams, cockles, and mussels), and the other two are terrestrial mammals (dogs and Tasmanian devils). Transmissible neoplasia in bivalves is a leukemic-type cancer that spreads between individuals in the marine environment. Remarkably little is known about how the immune system of marine bivalves reacts to cancerous infection once it reaches a host. Therefore, I am studying these questions using in vivo and in vitro experiments, combined with genomic and transcriptomic analyses as well as imaging techniques.

The results of CANCER PARASITISM will provide a broader picture of cancer susceptibility in bivalves, shed light on the host’s immune mechanisms during infection, and explore cancer-host interactions. This project therefore has the potential to provide useful information for managing cancer epidemics in marine bivalves, many of which are important for aquaculture and are key ocean species, as well as to provide information on the fundamental mechanisms of cancer metastasis and infectious diseases.

This project has received funding from the Normandy Region in France and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 101034329 via the WINNINGNormandy program.

More information about her career at: https://albruzos.github.io/