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Cancer and One Health: tumor-bearing individuals can act as super spreaders of symbionts in communities
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  • Sophie Tissot,
  • Jordan Meliani,
  • Matthew Chee,
  • Aurora Nedelcu,
  • Justine Boutry,
  • Jácint Tökölyi,
  • Rodrigo Hamede,
  • Benjamin Roche,
  • Beata Ujvari,
  • Frédéric Thomas,
  • Antoine Dujon
Sophie Tissot
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD

Corresponding Author:sophie.tissot@ird.fr

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Jordan Meliani
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Matthew Chee
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Aurora Nedelcu
University of New Brunswick
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Justine Boutry
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Jácint Tökölyi
MTA-DE “Momentum” Ecology, Evolution and Developmental Biology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen
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Rodrigo Hamede
University of Tasmania
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Benjamin Roche
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Beata Ujvari
Deakin University
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Frédéric Thomas
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Antoine Dujon
CREEC/MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD
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Abstract

Recent theoretical advances in the One Health approach propose that greater attention should be paid to cancer pathologies due to their potential to render hosts more susceptible to infectious agents, potentially transforming them into super-spreaders within ecosystems. However, this hypothesis lacks experimental validation. Using a community of Hydra species and a commensal ciliate species (Kerona pediculus) that colonizes them, we tested whether tumoral polyps of H. oligactis, compared to healthy ones, played an amplifying role in ciliate load, potentially resulting in higher likelihood of infection for other community members through spillovers. Results revealed a higher proliferation rate of ciliates on tumoral polyps compared to healthy ones, leading to infection of other hydras, albeit with varying spillover magnitudes among recipient species. This study is the first proof of concept that tumoral individuals within communities could act as super-spreaders of symbionts within and between species, influencing biotic interactions and dynamics in ecosystems.