--- title: Cancer in Fish: Rare Tumor Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass description: It's the first confirmed case of its kind in the Susquehanna River canonical: https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-08T14:50:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:03:12.206Z article:section: Science og:title: Rare Cancer Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass og:description: It's the first confirmed case of its kind in the Susquehanna River og:url: https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4492be077773dc0e/6987eeefe20a87fe78a894a8/smallmouth-bass.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A smallmouth bass fish og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rare Cancer Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass twitter:description: It's the first confirmed case of its kind in the Susquehanna River twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4492be077773dc0e/6987eeefe20a87fe78a894a8/smallmouth-bass.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rare Cancer Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 8, 2015 2:50 PM UTC  A smallmouth bass fish, Genoa, Wisconsin . A smallmouth bass fish, Genoa, Wisconsin .Joel Sartore—National Geographic/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 8, 2015 2:50 PM UTC A rare cancerous tumor was [discovered](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/05/a-susquehanna-river-angler-caught-a-smallmouth-bass-with-a-rare-cancerous-tumor/) on a smallmouth bass pulled out of the Susquehanna River. The fish was caught last year, and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission confirmed the case this week. Fish are not particularly susceptible to cancer, and it’s the first such case in the species in that location, though fish were previously found with sores and lesions, the Washington _Post_ reports. The disease may be the result of pollution, and officials want the river to be included on the EPA’s list of “impaired waterways.” The EPA, however, says it bases that list on water quality, not the health of species living there. A Pennsylvania Department of Health official said that consuming fish with cancer should not pose a risk to humans, but urged fishers not to eat those with sores and lesions. \[[_Washington Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/05/a-susquehanna-river-angler-caught-a-smallmouth-bass-with-a-rare-cancerous-tumor/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/"},"headline":"Rare Cancer Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass","datePublished":"2015-05-08T14:50:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:03:12.206Z","description":"It's the first confirmed case of its kind in the Susquehanna River","url":"https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/","keywords":["animals","Pennsylvania","Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4492be077773dc0e/6987eeefe20a87fe78a894a8/smallmouth-bass.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4492be077773dc0e/6987eeefe20a87fe78a894a8/smallmouth-bass.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A smallmouth bass fish","caption":"A smallmouth bass fish","creditText":"Joel Sartore—National Geographic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3851735/cancer-smallmouth-bass/","name":"Rare Cancer Discovered in Pennsylvania Smallmouth Bass"}}]}] ```