In 1996 an infectious cancer was detected in Tasmanian devils and caused a population decline of 80%. What makes this Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) unique is that it is the cancer cell itself that is the infectious agent. It is transmitted through the biting behaviour exhibited by Tasmanian devils during social interactions associated with territory, food or mating. The resulting tumour is a clone of the first tumour that arose in a single female Tasmanian devil.
The plight of the devil presents a unique opportunity for large-scale clinical trials of a cancer vaccine and immunotherapy in a natural tumour model. It allows the same cancer to be studied in different animals across generations. The cell line can be cultured and studied in vitro or in vivo using mouse models and captive devils
However, studying the Tasmanian devil also brings unique challenges because of the lack of species-specific reagents. For instance, we lack the most fundamental antibodies available for human and mouse studies such as NK, dendritic, and macrophage cell markers. To address this paucity of antibodies we are employing relatively new and emerging technologies such as RNAScope and RNA flow technologies to target mRNA as markers for immune cells and gene expression in single cells. Our team has also developed a novel fluorescent protein-based immunology method which shows great promise for use in non-traditional species.
The primary goal of our research is to develop preventative cancer vaccine for the Tasmanian devil, but principles learned from this project will be translated back to human and veterinary medicine. The group has already developed a vaccine that has been able to induce tumour regressions in a small number of devils, and the team is now focused on improving the vaccine so that it can be used as a single-shot preventative cancer vaccine.