In 2006, Pearse and Swift analyzed DFTD cells from several devils in different locations, and determined that all of the DFTD cells were not only genetically identical to each other, but also genetically distinct from their hosts, and from all known Tasmanian devils.
Nekateri od mutiranih ali izbrisanih genov v DFTD so RET, FANCD2, MAST3 in gen podoben BTNLD9.