Leukocytes infected by Theileria annulate and Theileria parva potentially express cancer hallmarks including hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF1α), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), murine double minute 2 (MDM2), nuclear factor-k-gene binding (NF-kB), T. annulata prolyl isomerase I gene (TaPIN1), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP), which are potential chemotherapeutic targets for cancer therapy 74. Here, MDM2 is linked to cancer.