Array Of Marine Derived Anti-Cancer Agents Now In Trials A number of experimental anticancer agents derived from marine sources are undergoing preclinical and clinical trials and there is no end in sight. A group of scientists have formed a world-wide collaboration to investigate the anticancer effects of organisms found on coral reefs and in deep ocean thermal vents, according to Dr. Gilberto Schwartsmann and colleagues at Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Over the past few years, about 3,000 new compounds from various marine sources have been described. "This activity has been largely due to improvements in the technologies involved in deep-sea sample collection and large-scale drug production through aquaculture and drug synthesis which took place in the 1980s," the clinicians point out. "These developments suggest that, in the future, the oceans will become an important source of novel chemical classes not found in the terrestrial environment." The manipulation of microbial biosynthetic pathways through genetic engineering has also led to the production of interesting new molecules. "These living organisms represent a rich reservoir of genetic and metabolic diversity, which is ready to be exploited and which will certainly make anticancer drug discovery even more challenging in the next few years." Thanks to Doctor's Guide 4/01 Science Daily, 10/01 Applied and Environmental Microbiology Producing Quantities of Anti-cancer Agent Nutr J, 12/06 Anticancer Res, 7-8,02 10/02 Meeting report Salinosporamide A-Inhibits Cancer Growth J Cancer Research, 7/04 Abstract #B77 Frontiers, 11/06 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.