Peto’s Paradox Challenged: Larger animals, like elephants and whales, should have more cancer due to more cells, but they don’t—our study confirms this paradox.
By Aniket Chakraborty
Mar 7, 2025
Cancer Prevalence Across Species: Analysis of 260+ species shows larger animals do have higher cancer rates, contradicting traditional beliefs.
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Rapid Evolution Reduces Cancer: Birds and mammals that evolved to larger sizes quickly, like dolphins, have lower cancer rates due to evolved defenses.
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Cope’s Rule Refined: Evolution favors larger bodies, but cancer risk may have influenced the pace of size evolution in species.
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Elephants’ Cancer Defense: Asian elephants have 20+ copies of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, explaining their low cancer rates.
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Amphibians and Reptiles Differ: Unlike mammals and birds, larger amphibians and reptiles show higher cancer rates regardless of evolutionary speed.
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Naked Mole Rats’ Mystery: These rodents rarely get cancer, making them a key focus for human cancer research.
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Human Evolution and Cancer: Humans evolved rapidly to our size, but lifestyle and medical factors complicate cancer prevalence comparisons.
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Regeneration and Cancer Risk: Amphibians like salamanders can regenerate limbs, but this process may increase cancer vulnerability.
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Evolutionary Insights for Medicine: Studying how animals naturally combat cancer could unlock new treatments for humans.