Contagious reticulum cell sarcoma is a reticulum-cell
sarcoma
A sarcoma is a malignant tumor, a type of cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal (connective tissue) origin. Connective tissue is a broad term that includes bone, cartilage, fat, vascular, or hematopoietic tissues, and sa ...
found in
Syrian hamsters that can be transmitted from one hamster to another. It was first described in 1945.
Transmission from hamster to hamster can be through various mechanisms. It has been seen to spread within a laboratory population, presumably through gnawing at tumours and cannibalism.
It can also be spread by means of the bite of the mosquito ''
Aedes aegypti
''Aedes aegypti'', the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its l ...
''.
It is one of only three known
transmissible cancer A transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transferred between individuals without the involvement of an infectious agent, such as an oncovirus. Transmission of cancer between humans is rare. The evolution of tran ...
s in
mammals; the others are
devil facial tumor disease, a cancer which occurs in
Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...
s, and
canine transmissible venereal tumor in dogs and other canines. Unlike these other two, tumours with multiple, independent origins have been observed in laboratory populations of hamsters.
References
{{Reflist
Types of animal cancers
Clonally transmissible cancers
Sarcoma