癌症是一种影响几乎所有多细胞生命的疾病，包括广泛而多样的鸟类分类群。虽然人们对导致鸟类癌症风险的因素知之甚少，但生活史的权衡可能可以解释癌症患病率的部分变异性。我们预测，在繁殖方面投入较多的鸟类患癌症的可能性可能更高。在这项研究中，我们测试了生活史特征是否与 108 种鸟类的癌症患病率相关。我们从已发表的数据库中获得了生活史数据，并从 25 个不同动物设施的 24 个分类目的 108 种鸟类的 5,729 例尸检中获得了癌症数据。我们对成年体重、寿命、孵化长度、窝大小、性二态性特征以及肿瘤和恶性肿瘤患病率进行了系统发育控制回归分析。我们还比较了雌性和雄性鸟类的肿瘤和恶性肿瘤患病率。我们发现鸟巢的窝数和癌症患病率之间存在正相关关系，这为体细胞维持和繁殖之间的生活史权衡提供了支持。与体重、寿命、潜伏期、性别二态性和癌症没有显着相关性。生活史理论为理解不同物种之间的癌症防御差异提供了一个重要的框架。这些结果表明繁殖和体细胞维持之间存在权衡，其中窝数较小的鸟患癌症的可能性较小。© 作者 2024。由牛津大学出版社代表进化、医学和公共卫生基金会出版。

Cancer is a disease that affects nearly all multicellular life, including the broad and diverse taxa of Aves. While little is known about the factors that contribute to cancer risk across Aves, life history trade-offs may explain some of this variability in cancer prevalence. We predict birds with high investment in reproduction may have a higher likelihood of developing cancer. In this study, we tested whether life history traits are associated with cancer prevalence in 108 species of birds.We obtained life history data from published databases and cancer data from 5,729 necropsies from 108 species of birds across 24 taxonomic orders from 25 different zoological facilities. We performed phylogenetically controlled regression analyses between adult body mass, lifespan, incubation length, clutch size, sexually dimorphic traits, and both neoplasia and malignancy prevalence. We also compared the neoplasia and malignancy prevalence of female and male birds.Providing support for a life history trade-off between somatic maintenance and reproduction, we found a positive relationship between clutch size and cancer prevalence across Aves. There was no significant association with body mass, lifespan, incubation length, sexual dimorphism, and cancer.Life history theory presents an important framework for understanding differences in cancer defenses across various species. These results suggest a trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance, where Aves with small clutch sizes get less cancer.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.