Widespread melanoma found in fish located beneath the world's largest ozone hole

[Emily]

http://www.healthcanal.com/cancers/31342-Skin-cancer-found-wild-fish.html

August 2, 2012: - Widespread skin cancer has been identified for the first time in wild marine fish populations.

A collaborative study between Newcastle University in the UK, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science published today in the academic journal PLoS One reveals the incidence of melanoma in the coral trout, a species found on the Great Barrier Reef and directly beneath the world?s largest hole in the ozone layer.

This is the first time skin cancer has been diagnosed in wild fish populations and the team, led by Newcastle University?s Dr Michael Sweet, say the appearance of the melanoma is almost identical to that found in humans.

?Further work needs to be carried out to establish the exact cause of the cancer but having eliminated other likely factors such as microbial pathogens and marine pollution, UV radiation appears to be the likely cause,? Dr Sweet said....

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Widespread melanoma found in fish located beneath the world's largest ozone hole

Evidence of Melanoma in Wild Marine Fish Populations

Michael Sweet1*, Nigel Kirkham2, Mark Bendall1, Leanne Currey3, John Bythell1,4, Michelle Heupel5,6
1 Coral Health and Disease Laboratory, School of Biology, Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, 2 Cellular Pathology, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, 3 AIMS@JCU, Australian Institute of Marine Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 4 Research Office, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, 5 Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia, 6 Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

Abstract
The increase in reports of novel diseases in a wide range of ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine, has been linked to many factors including exposure to novel pathogens and changes in the global climate. Prevalence of skin cancer in particular has been found to be increasing in humans, but has not been reported in wild fish before. Here we report extensive melanosis and melanoma (skin cancer) in wild populations of an iconic, commercially-important marine fish, the coral trout Plectropomus leopardus. The syndrome reported here has strong similarities to previous studies associated with UV induced melanomas in the well-established laboratory fish model Xiphophorus. Relatively high prevalence rates of this syndrome (15%) were recorded at two offshore sites in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). In the absence of microbial pathogens and given the strong similarities to the UV-induced melanomas, we conclude that the likely cause was environmental exposure to UV radiation. Further studies are needed to establish the large scale distribution of the syndrome and confirm that the lesions reported here are the same as the melanoma in Xiphophorus, by assessing mutation of the EGFR gene, Xmrk. Furthermore, research on the potential links of this syndrome to increases in UV radiation from stratospheric ozone depletion needs to be completed.
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full paper freely available at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0041989