Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading

Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?

By Carl Zimmer

A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake

For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.

By Ari Daniel

Catfish in Quebec catch cancer from each other, study finds

It's rare that cancerous tumours can spread from one individual to another. But a genetic study suggests that's what's happening with melanoma skin cancer tumours among catfish in Quebec and the northeastern U.S.