It's the fourth type of transmissible cancer known to science—the first in a fish and the first in fresh water. Here's what to know.
Scientists Discover The Fourth Transmissible Cancer Known To Science
Scientists found the fourth type of transmissible cancer, and the first in a fish: a melanoma whose tumor cells spread between catfish in a Vermont lake.
www.forbes.com
July 27, 2026 at 5:08 PM
It's the fourth type of transmissible cancer known to science—the first in a fish and the first in fresh water. Here's what to know.
Scientists identified the first known cancer transmissible among freshwater fish in a lake that spans the US and Canada. www.wired.com/story/contag...
Contagious Cancer Found in North American Catfish
Scientists identified the first known cancer transmissible among freshwater fish in a lake that spans the US and Canada.
www.wired.com
July 25, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Scientists identified the first known cancer transmissible among freshwater fish in a lake that spans the US and Canada. www.wired.com/story/contag...
Some information on the Devil Facial Tumor Disease. A transmissible cancer.
March 23, 2026 at 12:32 AM
Some information on the Devil Facial Tumor Disease. A transmissible cancer.
Catfish melanomas are the first example of a transmissible cancer in fish, new genetic studies reveal. https://scim.ag/4bE0fvg
Contagious fish cancer overruns New England lake
Catfish melanomas are the first example of a transmissible cancer in fish, genetic studies reveal
scim.ag
July 28, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Catfish melanomas are the first example of a transmissible cancer in fish, new genetic studies reveal. https://scim.ag/4bE0fvg
Cancer is not typically contagious. It is very rare for cancer cells to leave the bodies of their hosts and spread to other individuals. However, canine transmissible venereal tumor is an exception. It is one of the four known types of parasitic or transmissible cancers.
Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor: The 11,000-Year-Old Dog Cancer - Profolus
The canine transmissible venereal tumor is the oldest surviving cancer originating from a malignant cell of an ancient dog.
www.profolus.com
December 18, 2024 at 12:36 AM
Cancer is not typically contagious. It is very rare for cancer cells to leave the bodies of their hosts and spread to other individuals. However, canine transmissible venereal tumor is an exception. It is one of the four known types of parasitic or transmissible cancers.
Can a cancer become a new species of parasite? Here's my story on the discovery of a transmissible cancer lurking in Vermont catfish. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)
Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?
nyti.ms
July 23, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Can a cancer become a new species of parasite? Here's my story on the discovery of a transmissible cancer lurking in Vermont catfish. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
They have transmissible cancer!
Biologists Announce There Absolutely Nothing We Can Learn From Clams https://theonion.com/biologists-announce-there-absolutely-nothing-we-can-learn-from-clams/
September 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM
They have transmissible cancer!
Did Thoreau encounter contagious cancer? A new study finds transmissible tumors in catfish--and raises questions about whether they could arise in humans someday. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)
Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?
nyti.ms
July 22, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Did Thoreau encounter contagious cancer? A new study finds transmissible tumors in catfish--and raises questions about whether they could arise in humans someday. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Fun fact: there is a unicellular asexually reproducing dog, who is also a cancer that infects other dogs as a sexually transmitted disease.
The term for it is clonally transmissible cancer.
en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
The term for it is clonally transmissible cancer.
en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
Clonally transmissible cancer - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
November 10, 2024 at 3:32 AM
Fun fact: there is a unicellular asexually reproducing dog, who is also a cancer that infects other dogs as a sexually transmitted disease.
The term for it is clonally transmissible cancer.
en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
The term for it is clonally transmissible cancer.
en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
Wow! A fourth class of transmissible cancers. CONTAGIOUS FISH MELANOMA, discovered in Lake Memphremagog (Vermont / Quebec) 🎣 🧬 😷
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@uvmvermont.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@uvmvermont.bsky.social
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Wow! A fourth class of transmissible cancers. CONTAGIOUS FISH MELANOMA, discovered in Lake Memphremagog (Vermont / Quebec) 🎣 🧬 😷
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@uvmvermont.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@uvmvermont.bsky.social
Can't stop thinking about this; transmissible cancers are so crazy, extremely rare (tassie devils, dogs, some clams), but I wonder why? It seems like it should be very common. It's advantageous for the cancer to escape the dead-end host. And yet...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Can't stop thinking about this; transmissible cancers are so crazy, extremely rare (tassie devils, dogs, some clams), but I wonder why? It seems like it should be very common. It's advantageous for the cancer to escape the dead-end host. And yet...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
transmissible cancer? JFC
July 27, 2026 at 2:50 AM
transmissible cancer? JFC
🧪Scientists Discover The Fourth Transmissible Cancer Known To Science share.google/v5kJeNVWyNpR...
Scientists Discover The Fourth Transmissible Cancer Known To Science
Scientists found the fourth type of transmissible cancer, and the first in a fish: a melanoma whose tumor cells spread between catfish in a Vermont lake.
share.google
July 26, 2026 at 6:31 PM
🧪Scientists Discover The Fourth Transmissible Cancer Known To Science share.google/v5kJeNVWyNpR...
Not now, newly discovered transmissible form of cancer that’s becoming a new species of parasite.
Can a cancer become a new species of parasite? Here's my story on the discovery of a transmissible cancer lurking in Vermont catfish. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)
Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?
nyti.ms
July 23, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Not now, newly discovered transmissible form of cancer that’s becoming a new species of parasite.
Nature research paper: Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer
go.nature.com/4fh8bF8
go.nature.com/4fh8bF8
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
go.nature.com
July 29, 2026 at 10:18 AM
Nature research paper: Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer
go.nature.com/4fh8bF8
go.nature.com/4fh8bF8
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake www.npr.org/2026/07/22/n... 🧪🌎🦑
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how…
www.npr.org
July 23, 2026 at 4:57 PM
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake www.npr.org/2026/07/22/n... 🧪🌎🦑
2020s update: cancer is now contagious
Scientists discover 1st known likely transmissible cancer in wild catfish
The finding represents the first known transmissible cancer in fish and the first identified in a freshwater setting.
abcnews.com
July 26, 2026 at 5:48 PM
2020s update: cancer is now contagious
Link to study: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Link to study: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here's the story and it's not paywalled. abcnews.com/Health/scien...
Scientists discover 1st known likely transmissible cancer in wild catfish
The finding represents the first known transmissible cancer in fish and the first identified in a freshwater setting.
abcnews.com
July 27, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Here's the story and it's not paywalled. abcnews.com/Health/scien...
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.
n.pr
July 26, 2026 at 3:16 PM
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize. n.pr/4vLzcpb
A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.
n.pr
July 22, 2026 at 6:01 PM
For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize. n.pr/4vLzcpb
Contagious melanoma in catfish from Lac Memphrémagog, about 30 km from where I live. Fourth documented transmissible cancer 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
www.nature.com
July 22, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Contagious melanoma in catfish from Lac Memphrémagog, about 30 km from where I live. Fourth documented transmissible cancer 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"You are right to call me on that. When you said cure cancer I should not have caused cancer to be air transmissible. I will make a note to do that again."
September 19, 2026 at 6:33 PM
"You are right to call me on that. When you said cure cancer I should not have caused cancer to be air transmissible. I will make a note to do that again."
Cancers usually are not transmissible. Canine Transmissible Veneral Tumour (CTVT) is a rare exception. CTVT is a sexually-transmitted cancer of dogs, causing genital tumours. The original host lived 11,000 years ago, possibly a husky or malamute, making CTVT the oldest "dog" ever.
#vetmed 🧪
#vetmed 🧪
TRANSMISSIBLE DOG CANCER GENOME REVEALS THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF AN ANCIENT CELL LINEAGE
Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is the oldest known somatic cell lineage. It is a transmissible cancer that propagates naturally in dogs. We sequenced the genomes of two CTVT tumors and fou...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
June 17, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Cancers usually are not transmissible. Canine Transmissible Veneral Tumour (CTVT) is a rare exception. CTVT is a sexually-transmitted cancer of dogs, causing genital tumours. The original host lived 11,000 years ago, possibly a husky or malamute, making CTVT the oldest "dog" ever.
#vetmed 🧪
#vetmed 🧪