Shark cartilage
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Phase II safety studies of shark cartilage-derived supplement Neovastat provided enough evidence to initiate Phase III efficacy investigations, according to materials presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. In one of four clinical oncology studies already completed, a subgroup of 47 people with "unresectable non-small cell lung cancer" administered the product for over six months "indicated a significant increase of survival time" (6.15 months vs. 4.17 months) and a 2.5-fold decrease in risk of death after receiving 2.63 ml/kg/day of Neovastat, Gerald Batist, MD, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, et al. state. The results have led to initiation of two new studies: one in 750 lung cancer patients and another in a group of 280 subjects with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Saint Foy, Quebec-based Aeterna, which manufactures Neovastat, funded the study