The longevity of zoo animals is increasing due to continuous improvement in husbandry and veterinary medicine. However, increasing age is correlated to a higher prevalence of neoplasia. Despite tremendous improvement in diagnoses and monitoring capacities, cancers are still a challenge for veterinarians within the global zoo community. The recent use of copper isotopes as biomarkers for neoplasia in both human and veterinary medicine is a promising and cost-effective diagnostic tool. Two hundred and twenty-nine serum samples from 10 different species of wild felids under human care were processed through mass spectrometry to determine the ratio of heavy and light copper isotopes (65 Cu/63 Cu). The results of this preliminary study exhibit an important variability between felid species, with a ratio ranging between -1.71 and 0.63. Additionally, copper isotopes seem to be a promising diagnostic tool in monitoring cancer in wild animals, as in human medicine, where the isotopic ratio decreases significantly with time in the presence of a tumor.

中文翻译：

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铜同位素作为圈养野生猫科动物可能的肿瘤生物标志物

由于畜牧业和兽医学的不断改进，动物园动物的寿命越来越长。然而，年龄的增加与肿瘤的患病率增加有关。尽管诊断和监测能力有了巨大的提高，癌症仍然是全球动物园社区兽医面临的挑战。最近在人类医学和兽医学中使用铜同位素作为肿瘤生物标志物是一种有前途且具有成本效益的诊断工具。通过质谱法处理来自人类照料的 10 种不同野生猫科动物的 229 份血清样本，以确定重铜和轻铜同位素的比率 (65 Cu/63 Cu)。这项初步研究的结果表明，猫科动物物种之间存在重要的变异性，比率介于 -1.71 和 0.63 之间。此外，