VICTORIA, Australia, May 5 (UPI) -- The answer to the Tasmanian devil's problems -- chiefly, the species' 20-year battle with cancer -- may lie within its immune system. New research suggests the marsupial's antibodies can recognize and kill cancer cells.
For the last two decades, the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease has decimated Tasmania's devil population. In the search for a cure, scientists at Australia's Deakin University decided to analyze the various molecules that make up the immune system of the Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii.
One particular molecule, a natural antibody, corresponded with lower rates of cancer.
"We found that devils that have a higher ratio of these natural antibodies were less likely to have cancer," Beata Ujvari, a researcher at Deakin's Centre for Integrative Ecology, said in a news release. "We can deduce then that devils with higher natural antibody ratio are therefore less susceptible to the contagious cancer."
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The disease is transmitted from devil to devil via bites to the face. The devil's immune system should recognize the invading cells and attack, but the tumor cells are able to disguise themselves and grow -- sometimes to deadly proportions.
Ujvari and his colleagues hope their findings -- detailed in the journal Scientific Reports -- can help scientists empower the devil's immune system.
Immunotherapy -- the practice of harnessing the body's innate disease-fighting abilities -- is now regularly employed by oncologists. The strategy may be the Tasmanian devil's best shot at avoiding extinction.
"Anti-tumor vaccines that enhance the production of these natural antibodies, or direct treatment of the cancer with natural antibodies, could become a solution to help halt this disease," Ujvari concluded. "We think it could be the magic bullet."
