Health 411- Bowhead Whales and Cancer

As one of the world's leading causes of death, cancer does not yet have a cure. It is one of the most studied diseases, however, and researchers have been studying every aspect of cancer that they can. What we do know is that cancer is most often caused by abnormal uncontrolled cell division and replication, which can spread to other parts of the body and create tumors. On October 29th, 2025, Nature magazine published a paper researching a paradox regarding cancer that has been around since the 1970s. Peto's Paradox is an observation made by epidemiologist Richard Peto, who noticed that larger animals with more cells were not more susceptible to getting cancer than smaller animals were. This observation was unusual, because it was thought that the more cells an organism has, the more chances that organism's cells have to mutate and become malignant. This paper is studying possible reasons for why this paradox happens. Researchers looked at the cells of Bowhead whales (which can live up to or more than 200 years), and their low incidence rates of cancer. Why don't large animals like whales and elephants get cancer as often as we do? Are they resistant to cancer? Can this lead to scientists finding a cure? Listen in to this conversation between Dr. Jonathan Karp and student producer Kaya Basatemur to find out more!