Shark cartilage extracts as antiangiogenic agents: Smart drinks or bitter pills?

The use of crude cartilage for the treatment of human cancers remains a sub ject of controversy. In this brief commentary, we reviewed the current know ledge on the anticancer properties of cartilage. We then presented the prop erties of AE -941, a novel standardized water-soluble extract derived from shark cartilage that represents less than 5% of the crude cartilage. It is a multifunctional antiangiogenic product that contains several biologically active molecules. AE -941 is one of the few antiangiogenic drugs that is u nder phase III clinical investigation. It is currently evaluated in Europe and North America for the treatment of refractory renal cell carcinoma and in North America for metastatic non small cell lung cancer.