J. Biol. Sci., 5(2): 114-118, 2005
Journal of Biological Sciences, 5 (2): 114-118; 2005
ISSN 1727-3048
© 2005 Asian Network of Scientific Information
Comparative Oncology and Comparative Tumor Immunology
*Ivan Bubanovic and **Stevo Najman
*Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Medica Centre Nis, Serbia and Montenegro.
**Institute for Biology, University Medical School Nis, Serbia and Montenegro.
Abstract: Comparative oncology is a branch of comparative pathology that is relatively new biomedical
discipline. The need for a comparative research into tumors across different groups of living beings has arisen from a
relatively old notion that most of multicellular organisms may develop tumors. This apparently very simple fact
indicate the possible nature of tumor growth, which can be associated with the basic features of the cells of
multicellular organisms such as the division, development, growth and differentiation of cells and tissues. Regarding
this, tumor growth is commonly defined as a fundamental disorder in the regulation of cell division, growth,
differentiation and cell socialization. In all vertebrates, neoplasia is a disease in which genetically altered cells escape
from the normal cell-cycle regulation and monitoring of the immune system. This results in a persistent, expanding or
infiltrating growth without control and the architecture of the normal tissue. Concerning the facts that mechanisms of
cell sociability control and anti-tumor immune monitoring might be different in different group of animals, especially,
in different classes of vertebrates, development of disciplines such as comparative oncology and comparative tumor
immunology can be of great scientific importance.
Keywords: vertebrates, immunity, tumor, viviparity, evolution
COMPARATIVE ONCOLOGY
One of the tasks of comparative oncology is the
identification of carcinogenic factors and mechanisms
of
their
influence on
the cells of different,
phylogenetically distant multicellular organi