A study in the UK has mapped genetic changes in cancer in cats, discovering similarities between humans and pets that could improve therapies for both. 

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK, in collaboration with researchers in Canada and Switzerland, analysed the equivalent in cats of approximately 1000 human genes that have already been associated with cancer.  

The researchers identified 31 genes that drive cancer in cats by comparing healthy and tumour tissues from 493 cats and 13 different cancer types collected at vet clinics for diagnosis. They found similarities between the genes that drive cancer in cats and humans in several tumours, namely mammary, blood, bone, lung, skin, gastrointestinal and central nervous system. 

In mammary tumours, an aggressive cancer in cats, the researchers identified alterations in seven genes, including mutations in two genes – FBXW7 and PIK3CA – in half of the tumours. In humans, alterations in the equivalent genes are common in breast cancer.  

By treating cells from cats’ mammary cancer in the lab with different chemotherapies, the researchers found which therapies killed them more effectively. These preliminary results could inform future cancer treatments for both humans and cats. 

“Our household pets share the same spaces as us, meaning that they are also exposed to the same environmental factors that we are. This can help us understand more about why cancer develops in cats and humans, how the world around us influences cancer risk, and possibly find new ways to prevent and treat it,” said Geoffrey Wood, researcher from the Ontario Veterinary College, Canada, and co-author of the article published in Science.