Nature 227, 962 - 963 (29 August 1970); doi:10.1038/227962a0

Antineoplastic Components of Marine Animals

GEORGE R. PETTIT^*, JOHN F. DAY^*, JONATHAN L. HARTWELL^† & HARRY B. WOOD^†

^*Department of Chemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281.
^†Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Centre, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.

REFERENCES to the biological properties of marine organisms date back to antiquity¹. For example, hieroglyphics on the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ti (approximately 2700 BC) described the poisonous puffer fish Tetraodon stellatus. Perhaps the earliest recorded use of a marine organism in primitive medical practice occurred when the Roman, Plinius Secundus (AD 29−79), recommended that the sting unit of the stingray be ground up and used for treatment of toothache and in obstetrics. The first modern pharmacological and chemical studies of a substance from a marine animal probably involved tetrodotoxin from the poisonous puffer fish (for leading references see refs. 2 and 3). In recent years, extracts from certain sponges and coelenteratas have been shown to have antibiotic properties⁴⁻⁸. There have also been indications that marine invertebrates produce various other potentially medically useful components⁹⁻¹¹. Most important from the standpoint of cancer chemotherapy have been observations that starfish meal¹²⁻¹⁴ and the peanut worm Bonellia fulginosa ^15,16 and that partially purified material from certain sea cucumbers [Echinodermata] have antitumour activity against sarcoma-180 and Krebs-2 ascites tumour^10,17−19. Also certain clam¹⁸ (Mollusca) extracts and material from oysters have antitumour properties⁹⁻¹¹.

References

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