Blind mole rats (BMRs) of the genus Spalax are subterranean rodents that are long-lived for their size and are cancer resistant. Now, Andrei Seluanov and colleagues suggest that cancer resistance in BMRs is mediated by a concerted necrotic cell death mechanism (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, published online 5 November 2012; doi:10.1073/pnas.1217211109). The authors cultured primary BMR fibroblasts and found that the cultures underwent concerted cell death (CCD) after about 3 d. Flow cytometry analysis showed that cell death was mostly necrotic rather than apoptotic. The authors then tested whether CCD is regulated by the major tumor suppressor pathways, Rb and p53. They transfected BMR cells with SV40 large T antigen, which inactivates both p53 and Rb, and found that cells proliferated continuously and did not undergo CCD; however, if only p53 or only Rb was inactivated, CCD was not rescued. The authors hypothesized that CCD was a response to interferon (IFN). Young BMR cultures did not release IFN, but older cultures secreted IFN-β just before the onset of CCD. Notably, cultures rescued by CCD did not release IFN-β. The authors suggest that CCD protects BMR cells against cancer, and future experiments should test whether CCD can protect BMRs from chemical induction of cancer.