Thursday, July 23, 2026
Science

Transmissible cancer cells discovered in fish act more like parasites than traditional tumors

A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in a freshwater fish species. The cancer cells behave more like parasites than co...

Transmissible cancer cells discovered in fish act more like parasites than traditional tumors
Image: Phys.org
A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in a freshwater fish species. The cancer cells behave more like parasites than conventional tumors, moving from fish to fish.

Originally published at Phys.org

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