Elephant Cancer is so rare, may help Human treatments

Compared with just one copy in humans, elephants' cells contain 20 copies of a major cancer-suppressing gene, two teams of scientists report. The gene helps damaged cells repair themselves or self-destruct when exposed to cancer-causing substances.
The findings aren't proof that those extra p53 genes make elephants cancer-resistant, but if future research confirms it, scientists could try to develop drugs for humans that would mimic the effect.
Peto's paradox refers to the fact that large animals including elephants and whales, have comparatively low cancer rates even though they have many more cells than smaller species. Cancer involves uncontrolled cell growth.Schiffman's team also analyzed necropsy data and found that elephants sometimes live as long as humans, yet only about 1 in 20 die of cancer, versus about 1 in 4 humans.
The second group of researchers, working with frozen zoo specimens, looked at more than 60 other species and found only elephants and wooly mammoths, their extinct relatives, had extra copies of the cancer-suppressing gene.This team inserted elephants' p53 genes into mouse cells and found that those cells behaved just like elephants and self-destructed when exposed to DNA-damaging drugs.
Schiffman's team is seeking funding for research into possible treatments based on the elephant research.