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| The green sponge was found in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska. |
A small green sponge discovered in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska
could be the first effective weapon against pancreatic cancer, researchers said
on Wednesday.
Pancreatic cancer, with particularly aggressive tumors, is notoriously
difficult to treat.
"One would never have imagined looking at this sponge that it could
be miraculous," Bob Stone, a researcher at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries
Science Center, said in a briefing by phone.
Stone discovered the sponge, dull in color, called "Latrunculia
austini" in 2005 while on a seabed exploration expedition in Alaska.
It lives on rocks in patches at depths of 230-720 feet (70-219m).
Lab testing has shown that several molecules in this sponge selectively
destroy pancreatic cancer cells, said Mark Hamann, a University of South
Carolina researcher working with Fred Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer
Institute in Detroit.
"This is undoubtedly the most active molecule against pancreatic
cancer that we see," said Hamann. "Although there is still much work
to be done, it marks the first key step in the discovery and process of
developing a treatment," he said.
Pancreatic cancer progresses slowly, a circumstance which leaves
patients in a tough position as late diagnosis means little chance for
successful treatment.
Patients' chances of survival at five years for this tumor are only 14%,
according to the American Cancer Society.
"I've looked at 5,000 sponge extracts over the last two
decades," Valeriote said. "In terms of this particular pattern of
pancreatic and ovarian cancer selective activity, we’ve only seen one (other)
sponge with such activity, and that was one collected many years ago in
Indonesia."
In the United States, 53,670 new cases of
pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in 2017 and more than 43,000 people will
die.
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