What Medicine Is Learning from Animals That Resist Cancer

In recent years, naked mole rats, elephants, and bowhead whales have caught the attention of cancer researchers. At first glance, these three don’t have much in common: naked mole rats are subterranean rodents; elephants roam above ground; and bowhead whales spend their lives in the sea. But they do. For one, they all have relatively long lifespans. Naked mole rats can live just over three decades, much longer than most other creatures their size; some elephants can live up to 70 years; and the average lifespan of a bowhead whale is two centuries.

For another, these three species are also practically immune to cancer. It can be easy, for example, reported dogs to be 10 times more susceptible to the disease than humans, while naked mole rats, elephants, and bowhead whales “appear to be protected from cancer.”