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What insects can teach us about cancer: a forgotten connection

What insects can teach us about cancer: a forgotten connection

Frédéric Thomas, Jordan Meliani, Lionel Brazier, Beata Ujvari Antoine M Dujon
Bulletin - Entomological Society of Canada, Vol.58(1), pp.43-58
03/2026
Cancer is not just a m edical problem , it is also an ev olutionary and ecologicalone. Yet, m ost studies of cancer focus alm ost exclusiv ely on v ertebrates,ov erlooking the richest source of biological div ersity on the planet: insects.In this paper, w e explore how insects can deepen our understanding oftum our biology, from the m olecular lev el to the ecological and ev olutionaryscales. Experim ental m odels such as Drosophila rev eal how fundam entaloncogenic m echanism s are shared across life, w hile field observ ations showhow tum orous processes can influence insect behav iour and fitness. Insectsare also prov ing useful in unexpected w ay s: ants can detect cancer throughsm ell, insect peptides show anticancer activ ity, and ev en plant galls inducedby insects m irror aspects of tum our grow th. Together, these examplessuggest that looking at cancer through the lens of insect biology can rev ealuniv ersal principles about how m ulticellular life m aintains, and som etim esloses, its internal balance.

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