Wellcome Sanger Institute Maps Cat Cancer Mutations
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- Wellcome Sanger Institute and collaborators examined tumors from nearly 500 pet cats across five countries, creating the first large-scale feline cancer genomics map.
- Researchers screened about 1,000 human cancer‑linked genes across 13 feline cancer types, finding many driver mutations that mirror those in humans.
- FBXW7 was altered in more than 50 % of feline mammary carcinomas, a mutation also linked to poorer outcomes in human breast cancer.
- PIK3CA appeared in 47 % of feline mammary tumors, the same target of PI3K inhibitor drugs used in human breast cancer.
- Chemotherapy drugs showed increased efficacy in lab‑grown tumor samples with FBXW7 mutations, suggesting potential cross‑species treatment strategies.
- One Medicine framework is highlighted, proposing that discoveries in human oncology could be tested in cats and vice‑versa.
- Funding came from EveryCat Health Foundation, CVS Group, Wellcome, and national research councils, supporting the open resource for feline cancer genomics.
Why it matters: Veterinary and human oncology gain a new shared genetic target, enabling repurposing of existing human drugs for cats and accelerating precision treatments for both, while researchers gain an open data resource to drive future cross‑species drug development and providing a foundation for collaborative clinical trials across species.
