Disseminated neoplasia of bivalves
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Diseases of Bivalves: Historical and Current Perspectives
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Abstract
Disseminated neoplasia was first identified as a contagious cancer in oysters in 1986. Since that time, it has been found in several species of bivalves around the world. While only identified at low prevalence in some bivalve species, it can also occur at high prevalence and cause significant mortality in other species. Highest prevalence in most affected populations occurs in the winter/spring time periods. Histologically, circulating neoplastic cells are found in the sinusoids and, as in leukemia in other animals, the cells proliferate and fill up the vascular system as the disease progresses. Neoplastic cells appear to move through the sea water from an affected animal to a naïve animal causing the infection in the naïve animal making this disease a third type of cellular transmitted cancer known in the world. But, the cause of transformation of an as-yet unidentified normal cell to a neoplastic cell is not understood. Neoplastic cells in an affected individual do contain high levels of reverse transcriptase and high numbers of retrotransposons that are members of the gypsy/Ty3 transposon family. Retrovirus has been identified in some animals affected with the disease and, while Koch's postulates have been fulfilled by a group of researchers with a retrovirus extracted from neoplastic cells, the research has not been repeated, so the cause of the disease is yet to be elucidated.
First Page
265
Last Page
288
DOI
10.1016/B978-0-12-820339-2.00015-2
Recommended Citation
Smolowitz, R. (2024). Disseminated neoplasia of bivalves. Diseases of Bivalves: Historical and Current Perspectives, 265-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820339-2.00015-2
ISBN
[9780128203392, 9780128203439]
