Shark cartilage for cancer

Abstract

E Ernst (Jan 24, p 298)1Ernst E Shark cartilage for cancer?.Lancet. 1998; 351: 298Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar writes “the US National Cancer Institute began a trial of shark cartilage in 1994, but it was stopped when each batch (provided by advocates) was found to be contaminated”. This is false information. The US National Cancer Institute never began a trial of shark cartilage. The Office of Alternative Medicine of the US National Institutes of Health originally sponsored but did not fund, our shark cartilage study “by lending technical support for four field studies”.2EditorialShark cartilage, bee pollen, and ‘antineoplastons’.Science. 1994; 265: 1981Google Scholar There have never been any contaminated batches of shark cartilage used in our Food and Drug Administration approved protocol (IND number 43 033, approved Feb 7, 1994). In fact, the FDA made unannounced visits to the manufacturing facility and found no contamination. The dose used for patients on the protocol is between 80 and 100 g per day orally, not 100 mg, as Ernst says. Many commercially available products are diluted with dextrans and fillers. These products are positioned as food supplements in the USA and therefore must recommend low doses to qualify as such.