Do turtles get cancer?

Glaberman, Scott; Bulls, Stephanie E; Platner, Laura; Wagner, Philipp; Dreyer, Saskia; McCain, Stephanie; Burgstaller, Silvia; Davis, Leyla R; Turner, Heléna; Bruins-van Sonsbeek, Linda G R; Fischer, Dominik; Chiari, Ylenia

doi:10.1093/biosci/biaf100

Do turtles get cancer?

Glaberman, Scott; Bulls, Stephanie E; Platner, Laura; Wagner, Philipp; Dreyer, Saskia; McCain, Stephanie; Burgstaller, Silvia; Davis, Leyla R; Turner, Heléna; Bruins-van Sonsbeek, Linda G R; Fischer, Dominik; Chiari, Ylenia

Authors

Scott Glaberman

Stephanie E Bulls

Laura Platner

Philipp Wagner

Saskia Dreyer

Stephanie McCain

Silvia Burgstaller

Leyla R Davis

Heléna Turner

Linda G R Bruins-van Sonsbeek

Dominik Fischer

Dr YLENIA CHIARI Ylenia.Chiari@nottingham.ac.uk
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Abstract

Turtles are renowned for their extreme longevity and tremendous range in body size. Theoretically, large, long-lived organisms should face higher cancer risks because of increased cell numbers and lifetime cellular turnover, yet cancer appears to be exceptionally rare in turtles. In the present article, we synthesize the current knowledge on cancer prevalence in turtles, drawing from zoo necropsies, pathology reports, and comparative oncology studies, and present new data spanning additional species that reinforce this pattern. Emerging molecular evidence suggests that turtles possess high resistance to oxidative stress and protein dysregulation, which may contribute to cancer resistance. Given their extreme lifespans and unique physiology, turtles represent a promising but underexplored model for studying the evolution of longevity and natural cancer suppression mechanisms.

Citation

Glaberman, S., Bulls, S. E., Platner, L., Wagner, P., Dreyer, S., McCain, S., Burgstaller, S., Davis, L. R., Turner, H., Bruins-van Sonsbeek, L. G. R., Fischer, D., & Chiari, Y. (2025). Do turtles get cancer?. BioScience, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf100

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 11, 2025
Online Publication Date	Jul 9, 2025
Publication Date	Jul 9, 2025
Deposit Date	Jul 9, 2025
Publicly Available Date	Jul 10, 2025
Journal	BioScience
Print ISSN	0006-3568
Electronic ISSN	1525-3244
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Pages	1-7
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf100
Keywords	aging; body size; longevity; tortoises; tumor suppression
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/51345648
Publisher URL	https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaf100/8185759