ArticleCancer discovery2025
Cancer Prevalence across Vertebrates.
Article in Cancer discovery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Indirect genomic effects shape cancer risk across species.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Vertebrate Genomes Project Phase I: A global reference genome resource.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A review of spontaneous bone metastases in domestic and laboratory animals.Journal of bone oncology · 2026Review
- The Paipu framework enables creation of a large-scale mammalian cancer transcriptomics atlas.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Evolution of the MUC1 gene in eutherian mammals as an adaptation responsible for the increasing incidence of cancer in humans.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Reviews on cancer · 2026Review
- Beyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer Biology.Annual review of cancer biology · 2026Article
- Divergent understandings in comparative oncology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Cross-Species Exome Sequencing Reveals Recurrent Genomic Alterations in California Sea Lion (Genes · 2026Article
- Reply to Compton et al.: Another paradoxical misunderstanding.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- When cells rebel: a comparative genomics investigation into marsupial cancer susceptibility.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A Test of the Adaptive Lag Hypothesis of the Evolution of Cancer Suppression and Lifespan in Dog Breeds.Genes · 2026Article
- Of Barriers and Loops-How Evolution Limits Most Cancer Risks to Older Ages.Cancer discovery · 2026Review
- Leveraging comparative phylogenetics for evolutionary medicine: applications to comparative oncology.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Immune-cancer analyses across mammals reveal a potential trophic level and platelet-linked tradeoff between cancer and trauma mortality.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Immunological surveillance against cancer across mammals.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Coevolution of cooperative lifestyles and reduced cancer prevalence in mammals.Science advances · 2025Article
- Divergent evolutionary dynamics of benign and malignant tumors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The evolution of cancer and ageing: a history of constraint.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2025Review
- Harmonized nonhuman cancer database.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
33 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains the differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades of tetrapods (amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult mass (contrary to Peto's paradox) and somatic mutation rate but decreases with gestation time. The relationship between adult mass and malignancy prevalence was only apparent when we controlled for gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection. Outliers for neoplasia prevalence include the common porpoise (<1.3%), the Rodrigues fruit bat (<1.6%), the black-footed penguin (<0.4%), ferrets (63%), and opossums (35%). Discovering why some species have particularly high or low levels of cancer may lead to a better understanding of cancer syndromes and novel strategies for the management and prevention of cancer. Significance: Evolution has discovered mechanisms for suppressing cancer in a wide variety of species. By analyzing veterinary necropsy records, we can identify species with exceptionally high or low cancer prevalence. Discovering the mechanisms of cancer susceptibility and resistance may help improve cancer prevention and explain cancer syndromes. See related commentary by Metzger, p. 14.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.