For More Information Contact:Lori Elliott-Bartle, (402) 280-2607[email protected]
ANTI-CANCER RESEARCH AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY TAKES TO THE SEA
For Immediate Release, Feb. 14, 2001
OMAHA, Neb. -- Despite distance from the sea, Creighton University researchers are investigating potential anti-cancer compounds derived from marine organisms. Thomas Adrian, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences, recently received a two-year grant from The American Institute for Cancer Research to investigate the anti-cancer activity of a compound derived from a bottom-dwelling marine creature, commonly referred to as a 'sea cucumber.'
Adrian is working with a marine drug discovery company, Coastside Research of Stonington, Maine. He and Coastside Director Peter Collin have discovered a unique anti-cancer extract derived from the sea cucumber. The compound blocks the growth of several human cancer cells, including pancreatic cancer, the focus of the Adrian lab.
"There are more than 1,100 species of sea cucumbers worldwide," Collin said. "These slow-moving creatures have been around for 500 million years and have evolved sophisticated mechanisms for dealing with bacteria and the risk of being eaten by larger creatures."
Though far from being able to test the compounds in humans, the Creighton investigators are enthusiastic about the promise of their "sea cucumber" anti-cancer project.
The American Cancer Society lists pancreatic cancer as the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. Approximately 18 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer survive for one year and less than 4 percent survive five years after diagnosis.
"There are virtually no survivors of this disease," Adrian said. "In most cases, cancer has spread beyond the pancreas at the time of diagnosis and drugs currently available are not effective in stopping the cancer growth."
The Creighton investigators also will examine the sea cucumber derived compound's ability to inhibit the spread of cancer to other organs. Supported by the Chemoprevention Branch of the National Cancer Institute, the American Institute for Cancer Research, the Maine Center for Innovation in Biomedical Technology and the Maine Technology Institute, Adrian and Collin will focus their marine related efforts on pancreatic cancer for the foreseeable future.
"Marine life offers a vast untapped resource for pharmaceutical development," Collin said. "We're looking at preventing cancer with pharmaceuticals and nutrition -- the line is blurring between food and medicine."
Coastside Research is a marine nutraceutical and drug discovery company that develops new products aimed at arthritis, psoriasis, inflammation, cancer and immune regulation.
Creighton is an independent Catholic university operated by the Jesuits. It has been ranked No. 1 for the past five years among Midwestern universities in U.S. News & World Report magazine's "America's Best Colleges" edition.
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