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Sharks get cancer, mole rats don't : how animals could hold the key to unlocking cancer immunity in humans / by James S. Welsh, MD.

by Welsh, James S., 1960- author.

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Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2016.

Cancer -- Immunotherapy.

9781633881549 (paperback) :

1633881547 (paperback)

406 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

What just happened? -- Action at a distance -- Disappearing devils -- The devil himself: some diabolical biology -- Devil of a disease -- The perfect parasite -- A malignant malady in man's best friend -- The curious case of Coley's toxins (or, Sometimes the treatment worked) -- the dog knows -- Males need not apply -- Could brown fat be the secret to weight loss? -- Gamma rays and dinosaur cancer -- Cancer of the clam! -- Sharks do get cancer (or, How shark cartilage can kill you) -- Who truly doesn't get cancer? Meet the mole rats -- Par for the course -- Mighty Mouse to the rescue! -- Frodo of Flores -- A cancer-free clan? -- Cancer: a disease of immune failure? -- Malignant cargo -- The power of the immune system -- Man dies of ovarian cancer -- Man's life saved by mosquito bite -- Moles, moles, and more moles -- Tumors through the wormhole -- The imposter -- Competition: the cause of the cellular disease -- A standard model of molecular oncology -- Runaway train! -- Order out of chaos -- Immune theory of cancer -- What can cows teach us about conquering cancer? -- Tough mothers and juvenile delinquents -- As crazy as the Quantum Café -- Connected dots: looking back and glimpsing the future.

"This fresh and fascinating exploration of new directions in cancer research focuses on the important role of the immune system in combating this dread disease. Integrating clues from the animal kingdom, the veterinary clinic, extraordinary human cases, and even embryology, the author--a cancer physician, biologist, and physicist--creates a novel and compelling account of tumor immunology and the promises of immunotherapy. As the author explains, animals offer us many tantalizing clues about the nature of cancer in humans. Tasmanian devils are on the verge of extinction due to a virulent form of contagious cancer; soft-shelled clams on the East coast of North America are vanishing due to another epidemic of contagious cancer; dogs also contract a contagious cancer but they spontaneously overcome it; and a type of mouse and the homely mole rat are not susceptible to the disease at all. In humans, there are rare instances of spontaneous cures of advanced cancers induced by radiation. An uncommon form of dwarfism called Laron syndrome confers total cancer immunity on the people who inherit the condition. And recent research suggests that cancer has stolen the secret that shields the embryo against hostile attacks from the mother's immune system. The author makes a convincing case that what all of these diverse examples have in common is the immune system and its ability or inability to respond to malignancies. He concludes with a review of the exciting research on the human immune system and the development of new treatments that are inducing the immune system to combat and conquer even the deadliest cancers"--

"A radiation oncologist looks to the animal kingdom for clues to the use of immunotherapy for promising new treatments of cancer in humans"--

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