Tyler Brown Enc 1101 Professor Mary 17 November 2015 Monsters of the Deep, Can They Get Cancer? Mysterious creatures of wonder, gliding through the water with incredible ease. Their bodies made of pure muscle to give them strength to snatch their prey in order to survive. It has recently been made clear that because sharks are mostly made of cartilage. For this reason they do not develop cancer. Where does this theory stem from, does it have to do with marketing, can shark cartilage help fight cancer? Do sharks really get cancer? First of all, what exactly is cartilage? Cartilage is lighter than bone, which enables sharks to glide through the water easier, as well as being more flexible to turn around it tight spaces. The cartilage allows …show more content…
William Lane, published his book Sharks Don’t Get Cancer. Lane stated that the reason sharks do not get cancer is that there are cancer-fighting elements in their cartilage (Finkelstein 1562). Once it was out that Lane had found some magical substance that may help cancer patients, everyone wanted to get their hands on it. Suddenly researchers looked into Lane’s clinical trial and found that the results were never published in a peer-review journal. The results showed that there was no effect on the long-term survival or quality of life. However, “People want to believe this stuff. They’re desperate. They have limited time, limited resources [.]” This was said by Gary K. Ostrander, Ph. …show more content…
For example in the phase III lung cancer trial of Neovastat, 350 people were to take the antitumor drug orally two times a day after their chemotherapy. Dr. Lu, lead doctor was asked in an interview if his trial showed any substantial evidence towards finding an answer to slow tumor growth, and if it would slow the demand for cartilage supplements being sold in health food stores. His answer was, “most people will be swayed by the data, but there will be diehards who won’t listen to doctors no matter what they say.” Another clinical trial was done on 83 inoperable breast cancer patients, they were either given a placebo or the cartilage three to four times a day. Overall there was no improvement in survival rate or quality of life among any of the participants who got the placebo or the cartilage. This compelling data should be evidence enough that the shark cartilage is not effective enough to treat or help cure cancer. However many people still want to believe that it is true. They would give anything to find a cure, and would go to any lengths to try and find