“Cat cancer genetics has totally been a black box up until now,” Cancer Researcher Louise van der Weyden told the BBC. Van der Weyden is the Senior Author of a new study, which analyzed tumor DNA from almost 500 domestic cats across five (5) countries — the first time that feline cancers have been genetically profiled at a large scale. Certain genetic changes commonly found in cat cancers, the scientists report, closely mirror those seen in dogs and humans. The work revealed particularly strong similarities between mammary carcinomas, a notoriously aggressive form of cancer in cats, and human breast cancer: In both, mutations in the FBXW7 gene seem to be associated with a worse prognosis.
Excitingly, the team also found that certain chemotherapy drugs were more effective at treating cats with tumors that carried mutations in this gene, potentially opening avenues for therapies that could benefit both cats and humans. “This confirms that the domestic cat is not just a beloved pet, but a virtual partner in the fight against cancer,” Study Co-Author Latasha Ludwig told the Cornell Chronicle.
Editor’s summary
Cats are one of the most common companion animals in the world. Unfortunately, cancer is relatively common in cats; however, it is not very well studied, and additional insights into feline cancers may help improve treatment for both pets and humans with similar diseases. To address this gap, Francis et al. sequenced paired tumor and normal tissues from almost 500 cats with 13 different tumor types, focusing on orthologs of human genes known to be involved in cancer. The resulting dataset paints a relatively comprehensive picture of oncogenomics in cats and also provides a basis for insights into comparative biology of cancers in cats and human patients. — Yevgeniya Nusinovich
Abstract
Cancer is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in domestic cats. Because the mutational landscape of domestic cat tumors remains uncharacterized, we performed targeted sequencing of 493 feline tumor – normal tissue pairs from 13 tumor types, focusing on the feline orthologs of ~1000 human cancer genes. TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene, and the most recurrent copy number alterations were loss of PTEN or FAS or gain of MYC. By identifying 31 driver genes, mutational signatures, viral sequences, and tumor-predisposing germline variants, our study provides insight into the domestic cat oncogenome. We demonstrate key similarities with the human oncogenome, confirming the cat as a valuable model for comparative studies, and identify potentially actionable mutations, aligning with a “One Medicine” approach.
REFERENCE: Science; Research Article – Cancer Genomics; 19 FEB 2026; Volume 391, Issue 6787 (Pages 793-799)