Houston – Patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer do not benefit from adding a shark cartilage extract to their combination of chemo- and radiotherapy.

Preclinical studies had supported the hypothesis that cartilage derived from shark contains inhibitors of angiogenesis.

Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center conducted a study evaluating the effects of a standardised aqueous shark cartilage extract on the overall prognosis of patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The study, published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, enrolled 379 newly-diagnosed untreated stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients at 53 sites in the United Sates and in Canada from June 2000 to February 2006. 

All patients received induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemotherapy with chest radiotherapy. Each participating centre administered one of two chemotherapy regimens: either carboplatin and paclitaxel, or cisplatin and vinorelbine. The primary endpoint was overall survival, and secondary endpoints were time to progression, progression-free survival, tumour response rate, and toxic effects.

With a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the study showed no statistically significant difference in overall survival between patients ( n = 188) who received the shark cartilage in addition to standard therapy (14.4 months) and those patients (n = 191) who received chemoradiotherapy plus placebo (15.6 months).
The placebo arm had a median time to progression of 10.7 months, compared to 11.3 months for the shark extract-treated arm. There was also no difference in progression-free survival between the two arms.

The authors conclude: "The addition of a standardized aqueous shark cartilage extract to chemoradiotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC. This study does not support the use of shark cartilage-derived products as a therapy for lung cancer."

Reference:
Lu C. et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010 May 26.