Transmissible cancer evolution and host interaction

Cancers are outgrowths of abnormal cells driven by a malignant evolutionary programme and supported by a permissive tumour microenvironment. Most cancers arise from and remain within the bodies of their hosts. Rarely, however, cancers may escape their hosts, defy immunological barriers, and spread through populations. Only three such transmissible cancers are known amongst mammals, affecting dogs and Tasmanian devils, and these provide a unique perspective on cancer evolution and host interaction. Here, I outline a plan to sequence the entirety of DNA and RNA from hundreds of tumours, together with targeted single-cell RNA sequencing, in order to understand these cancers' evolution and mechanisms of immune evasion. I will investigate the source and consequence of mutation and characterise variation in composition and function of the tumour microenvironment. This work will reveal how cancers exploit a transmissible niche, and how the interaction between cancer and immune system controls disease outcome.