Shark cartilage and cancer

Shark cartilage is a food or dietary supplement. It is sometimes used by people as an alternative cancer treatment.

There is not enough reliable evidence that it works as a cure for cancer. 

Summary

• Shark cartilage comes from spiny dogfish sharks and hammerhead sharks.

• Claims that shark cartilage can treat cancer are not backed up by research.

• Using shark cartilage as an alternative to conventional cancer treatment can be very harmful to your health.

Research into shark cartilage as a cancer treatment

Researchers have been interested in cartilage as a potential treatment for cancer because cartilage doesn’t contain any blood vessels. Cancers develop blood vessels to supply them with food and oxygen and help them to grow. Some laboratory studies have shown that certain compounds in shark cartilage can block the growth of blood vessels. So in theory this could slow down the growth of cancer cells or stop the cancer growing. But no research has shown that it can do this in humans.

A highly purified extract of shark cartilage called Neovastat (AE-941) was tested in a clinical trial in America. They gave Neovastat alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy to people with advanced lung cancer. Everyone in the trial had chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Half the patients also had treatment with Neovastat. The other patients had a dummy pill (a placebo). The study showed that Neovastat gave few side effects and was safe to take but did not help people to live longer.