According to a new American study, led by researchers from the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, the reason elephants rarely get cancer is a special mechanism in their cells that fights the disease. The study was published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study found that elephants have 40 copies of a gene called P53, a well-known tumor suppressor, whereas humans have just two. The intensive activity of the gene kills a large number of cancer cells in elephants that allows them to overcome the disease.

On the basis of these findings, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have decided to conduct a follow-up study to translate the discovery into innovative cancer treatments.

The American study has been given a lot of coverage in the world media. Prof. Avi Schroeder of the Technion's chemical engineering department insisted that it was not a publicity stunt. The study convinced Schroeder, who is heading the Israeli study, that this was a serious new possibility in the direction of cancer drugs development.

Elephants can be a subject for cancer research. They can live for 70 years and have around 100 times as many cells in their bodies as humans. This indicates that elephants have quite more cell divisions going on in their bodies than people do, theoretically putting them at greater risk for the genetic mutations that lead to many types of cancer.

Contrary to the fact, less than 5% of elephants die from cancer, in comparison to human cancer mortality rate of between 11% and 25%.

"The biggest challenge in dealing with cancerous growths is the metastases," he said. "These are tiny, unexpected and fast-spreading, and they attack a patient whose immune system is already weakened by the initial tumor. The miniscule platforms that we are developing here know how to identify diseased tissue and release the drug they are carrying to the precise location."