Canine transmissible venereal tumor
tumors most commonly seen on or near the animal's genitalia, most likely transmitted through transplantation of cells by contact
A canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), also known as a transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), canine transmissible venereal sarcoma (CTVS), sticker tumor or infectious sarcoma, is a histiocytic tumor of the external genitalia of domestic dogs and other canines, and is transmitted from animal to animal during mating. It is one of only three known transmissible cancers in mammals; the others are devil facial tumor disease, a cancer which occurs in Tasmanian devils, and contagious reticulum cell sarcoma of the Syrian hamster.
The tumor cells are themselves the infectious agents, and the tumors that form are not genetically related to the host dog. Although the genome of a CTVT is derived from an individual canid (specifically from a population of Native American dogs with coyote contribution), it is now essentially living as a unicellular, asexually reproducing (but sexually transmitted) pathogen. Sequence analysis of the genome suggests it diverged over 6,000 years ago; possibly much earlier. Estimates from 2015 date its time of origin to about 11,000 years ago. However, the most recent common ancestor of extant tumors is more recent: it probably originated 200 to 2,500 years ago.
Canine TVTs were initially reported by veterinary practitioner Delabere P. Blaine in London in 1810. In 1876, Russian veterinarian Mstislav A. Novinsky (1841–1914) demonstrated that the tumor could be transplanted from one dog to another by infecting them with tumor cells.
Signs and symptoms
In male dogs, the tumor affects the penis and sheath.
The public source identifies “Canine transmissible venereal tumor” as tumors most commonly seen on or near the animal's genitalia, most likely transmitted through transplantation of cells by contact. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Canine, transmissible and venereal.
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