[Coral-List] Coral Tumors?????

[Esther Peters]

Hi Shashank,

Gary is correct.  Those of us who have been studying these diverse 
lesions on corals have agreed that the best "field-identification name" 
is "growth anomaly" (GA). To determine if the lesion is a tumor (which 
means neoplasm, or cancer, malignant neoplasm), sections of both 
skeleton and tissue are needed to examine cell and tissue changes that 
meet the histologic criteria for neoplasia (versus hyperplasia or 
altered growth response to presence of a parasite, for example), and on 
these our group has agreed that more study is needed! However, I don't 
advocate sampling a lesion unless growth rate data have been obtained 
for a period of time first, because we need this information as well.

In Japan, growth anomalies have been studied, as reported in these papers:

Yamashiro, H., M. Yamamoto, and R. van Woesik.  2000.  Tumor formation 
on the coral Montipora informis.  Dis. Aquat. Org. 41:211-217.

Yamashiro, H., H. Oku, K. Onaga, H. Iwasaki, and K. Takara.  2001. 
Coral tumors store reduced level of lipids.  J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 
265:171-179.

Again, "tumor" is now considered not an appropriate term, although many 
have used it in the sense of "a swelling" or "protuberant mass" (which 
might not be a neoplasm at all).

The Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals is interested in further 
sightings of and reports on similar lesions, with the goal of developing 
diagnostic criteria and standardized terminology for them, as we are 
doing for cellular proliferative disorders in other organisms (except 
birds and mammals).

Esther Peters, Ph.D.
Invertebrate Pathologist
Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals
administrator at pathology-registry.org
www.pathology-registry.org


Gary K. Ostrander wrote:

> Shashank,
> 
> It is not possible to tell from gross photos if you have tumors, malignant 
> neoplasms, or skeletal anomalies.  We would need to look at sections of both 
> skeleton and tissue.  The following paper may be of interest as it is now on 
> line now in Coral Reefs and will appear in the November issue of the 
> journal.
> 
> Domart-Coulon, I.J., Traylor-Knowles, N., Peters,E., Elbert,D., Downs,C.A., 
> Price,K., Stubbs,J.,McLaughlin, S., Cox, E., Aeby, G., Brown, P.R., & 
> Ostrander, G.K.  2006.  Comprehensive characterization of skeletal tissue 
> growth anomalies of the finger coral Porites compressa.  Coral Reefs
> 
> Regards,
> 
> GKO
> ************************************
> Gary K. Ostrander  Ph.D.
> Interim Dean
> John A. Burns School of Medicine
> Vice Chancellor for Research
>      and Graduate Education
> 2500 Campus Road  Hawaii Hall 211
> University of Hawaii
> Honolulu, HI  96822
> 808/956-7837 office
> 808/956-2751 fax
> *********************************
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "shashank Keshavmurthy" <iamshanky15 at yahoo.com>
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 11:58 PM
> Subject: [Coral-List] Coral Tumors?????
> 
> 
> 
>>Dear All...
>>Can anyone out there tell me what it is?
>>
>>Please look at the pictures that I have posted at
>>my site...
>>
>>http://homepage.mac.com/coralresearch/PhotoAlbum16.html
>>
>>Regards
>>Shashank
>>
>>"the role of infinitely small in nature is infinitely large"-Louis Pasteur
>>
>>Keshavmurthy Shashank
>>phD candidate
>>Kochi University, Graduate School of Kuroshio Science
>>Laboratory of Environmental Conservation
>>Otsu 200, Monobe, Nankoku-shi
>>783-8502, Kochi, Japan
>>alt. id: shashank at cc.kochi-u.ac.jp
>>phone: 81 080 3925 3889
>>My WebPage: http://web.mac.com/coralresearch/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
>>
>>__________________________________________________
>>Do You Yahoo!?
>>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>>http://mail.yahoo.com
>>_______________________________________________
>>Coral-List mailing list
>>Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>>http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>>
>>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
>