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Anti-cancer Drugs Expected to Be Developed from Shark Cartilage
Chinese scientists have successfully extracted from shark cartilage two angiogenesis inhibitory factors, which are likely to be turned into anticancer drugs.
The two factors, named SCAIF (Shark Cartilage Angiogenesis Inhibitory factor)-I and SCAIF-II, were obtained by a group of researchers from Shanghai's Fudan University and the Shanghai Institute of Naval Medical Sciences.
Scientists believe that the development of tumor depends on newly emerging blood vessels and that inhibiting the growth of blood vessels results in withering tumor.
Finding angiogenesis inhibitory factors and deriving effective anticancer drugs from them have therefore become a key research project in the world in recent years.
Medical experiments indicate the two newly obtained factors remarkably prevented the growth of vessels and tumor in mice.
The researchers said their experiments have shown no harmful side effects or toxicity in the lab.
SCAIF-I has been confirmed as a new type of protein and a patent has been granted for its discovery.
The researchers are now engaged in cloning the factor.
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