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Many animals get cancer just like humans do, but there are a few mysterious species that rarely develop it.... A few animals don't seem to get cancer very often, or at all. Understanding why could help us treat it, or even prevent it.....

Sugar matrix surrounding cells traps would-be tumours in long-lived mammal. The same molecules that endow naked mole rats with springy, wrinkled skin also seem to prevent the homely rodents from contracting cancer. Research published on Nature's website today identifies a sugary cellular secretion that stops the spread of would-be tumours1. Naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber), which are more closely related to porcupines than rats, are freaks of nature. The short-sighted creatures spend their lives in subterranean colonies in the service of a single breeding queen — H. glaber is one of only two 'eusocial' mammals ever discovered. The rodent doesn’t...

Enlarge ImageCancer fighter. The naked mole rat isn't much to look at, but it has an effective way of combating cancer. Credit: Trisha M. Shears With its wrinkled skin and bucked teeth, the naked mole rat isn't going to win any beauty contests. But the burrowing, desert rodent is exceptional in another way: It doesn't get cancer. The naked mole rat's cells hate to be crowded, it turns out, so they stop growing before they can form tumors. The details could someday lead to a new strategy for treating cancer in people. In search of clues to aging, cell...

Naked Mole Rate Colony or The Democratic Underground?