Lymphoma is said to be a cancer of the immune system and is apparently categorized into Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s kinds, which are subsequently further grouped into B-cell and T-cell groups. A research claims that seaweed extract may ultimately surface as a lymphoma treatment.
Seaweeds supposedly include fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide similar to heparin in chemical structure. They have apparently been accounted to encompass anti-tumor activity in mice and a few cell lines.
“Some forms of B-cell lymphoma are especially resistant to standard treatment and thus new therapies are needed. In this study, we looked at a new treatment strategy using novel active compounds derived from a natural source – seaweed,” commented, Mohammad Irhimeh, Ph.D., assistant professor of hematoncology and stem cells at the Hashemite University in Jordan.
For the present research, Irhimeh and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, and Royal Hobart Hospital in Australia apparently treated lymphoma cell lines with a commercially obtainable seaweed extract.
It was seen that the extract seemed to have an inhibitory outcome on the development of lymphoma cell lines, while leaving the control healthy cells undamaged. The scientists also apparently observed an important pattern of activity in the genes identified to be associated with apoptosis, or cell death, in lymphoma.
Irhimeh mentioned that they would carry on investigating the mechanism of action for these biological effects and had an objective of performing phase II or III clinical trials.
This laboratory research was presented at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research: From the Laboratory to the Clinic.