A new study has shown that sea cucumber extract kills up to 95 percent
of breast cancer cells, 90 percent of melanoma cells, 95 percent of
liver cancer cells and 88 percent of lung cancer cells in vitro. The
extract also stimulates the immune system against cancer and impedes key
processes required for metastasis.
While the science behind this is
very new to Western medicine, the sea cucumber has been used in Chinese
medicine for centuries.
Sea cucumber extracts potently kill multiple cancer cell lines
In
previous studies, extracts of sea cucumber have demonstrated potent
cytotoxicity against pancreatic, lung, prostate, colon, breast, skin and
liver cancer cells as well as leukemia and gioblastoma. Researchers
have identified a key compound responsible for sea cucumber's
anti-cancer properties: a triterpenoid known as frondoside A.
A
new study has now confirmed the anti-cancer effects of frondoside A at a
whole new level. In the lab, it has killed up to 95 percent of ER+
breast cancer cells, 90 percent of melanoma cells, 95 percent of liver
cancer cells and 85-88 percent of three different lines of lung cancer.
But the benefits of this compound don't just stop at directly inducing
programmed cell death (apoptosis). It also inhibits angiogenesis (the
ability of tumors to grow new blood vessels to get their food) and stops
cancer metastasizing by impeding cell migration and invasion. Even more
intriguing is the ability of frondoside A to activate our immune
system's natural killer cells to attack cancer
cells.
This has been shown for breast cancer in particular but may also
apply to all cancers, because it involves the immune system and not
cancer cells directly. This may partially explain why frondoside A was
so effective at shrinking lung tumors in mice that it rivaled chemo
drugs in performance.
Lung tumor shrinkage that rivals chemo drugs - without the side effects
Frondoside
A is potently cytotoxic to three different types of lung cancer in
vitro, including NCI-H460Luc2, LNM35 (non-small cell lung cancer) and
A459 (epithelial adenocarcinoma). And when given to mice with
xenografted human non-small cell lung cancer, it shrank the tumors by 40
percent in 10 days. This compares very well with the shrinkage of 47
percent obtained with a standard chemo drug. But the similarities
between the two compounds stop there.
The chemo drug used in this study
is known to damage DNA and carry potent negative side effects, such as
kidney damage and immunosuppression, and it may actually induce leukemia
in the patient. Frondoside A, however, actually stimulates the immune
system, potently kills leukemia cells and produced no visible side
effects in the mice, according to the researchers - all at a fraction of
the price of chemo.
But the most impressive part of this study was that
this was achieved at a very small dose of frondoside A - equivalent to
less than a single milligram for an adult human weighing 75 kilograms.
It is also noteworthy that frondoside A given together with the chemo
drug shrank the tumor by a remarkable 68 percent.
The future of sea cucumber as a natural medicine for cancer
Sea
cucumber extract is a highly promising natural medicine for cancer.
There are currently two clinical trials using it (with other natural
extracts) against myeloma and multiple myeloma, but more trials against
breast and lung cancer are clearly called for, as a start.
In the
meantime, dried and powdered sea cucumber
is available in North America in over-the-counter health supplements
aimed at inflammatory conditions (such as arthritis), because sea
cucumber also happens to be a rich source of chondroitin.
Sources for this article include:
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