Battling Cancer

There is no better source of healing substances than mother nature herself. And it seems that our seas have “oceans” of compounds waiting to be discovered. Since the 1960s, scientists have been exploring the ocean for marine products that may be beneficial to human health. However, natural products are considered time-consuming and too expensive to develop so that pharmaceutical companies lost interest before researchers can discover the useful compounds. Hence, only 14 natural products which originated from the marine environment are currently undergoing clinical trials.

One of the most promising compounds so far is marine extract called largazole, which has been shown to have potent anticancer properties. Largazole was extracted from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that grow on the coral reefs off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. This compound was discovered by University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers headed by Dr. Hendrik Leusch. They found that largazole acts on a group of enzymes called histone deacetylase or HDAC. Over-active HDACs are found to be associated with cancers like prostate and colon tumors. When HDACs are inhibited, the genes that suppress tumors are activated. In addition to its HDAC inhibitory properties, largazole exhibits potent antiproliferative activity and these two seems to be correlated.

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A test developed by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists is the first to identify which malignant blood cells are highly vulnerable to a promising type of experimental drugs that unleash pent-up “cell suicide” factors to destroy the cancer.

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