http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=4105
 
Author wrote:
>I have a breeding jill, who was diagnosis with breast Cancer the
>tumor was remove.  I have some question that I would like answers.
>
>1. Is breast cancer in ferrets genetic?  If so then why dosen't
>her mother and half sister show no signs of breast cancer.
>
>2. If I breed this jill what are her chances of producing kits with
>breast cancer?
>
>3. True or False.  Is breast cancer in jills brought on by having a
>hign estrogen level when in heat.  My jill has had many heat cycles
>with no signs of lumps on her breast.
 
>My jill has been taken out of heat many times and there was no signs of
>breast cancer until the last cycle can you please write me back soon
this really puzzling to me.  The jill is only a 1 year and half old.
 
The use of the term breast cancer is somewhat misleading.  This implies
a malignancy of the mammary tissue - but this is less common that benign
tumors of the mammary tissue in ferrets.
 
At any rate, there is no evidence that breast neoplasia is genetic, or
that the offspring of your jill would develop breast cancer.  This type
of tumor is exceedingly rare in ferrets - we would expect a significantly
more common occurrence if it was passed with any frequency down
bloodlines.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4122]