Maybe the absence of HMW-HA is boosting the metabolism in this rodents? what if those animals living in low oxigen habitats could exchange more or less oxigen by its skins HMW-HA mediated? more oxigen, more metabolic rates, more sun exposition in captive animals... cancer appears?.
Just wild speculation about a very interesting discovery; I'm not saying that this is the role of HMW-HA, I will be really very happy with the idea of a safer replacement for chemotherapy, but I wish to read studies about other possible reasons for the development of a cancer-proof system in an animal living in an apparently "not cancer prone" environment. And I'd like a lot also to have data about cancer rates in queens/kings and the other animals. There are different rates?, the same probability of having cancer in both groups?
Experiments show that when HMW-HA is removed from the creature’s cells, they become susceptible to cancer, suggesting it plays a role in making the rodent ‘cancer-proof’.