Anti-cancer agent found in sea snail secretion

Fresh hopes for cancer research have been found in the slimy mucus produced by a sea snail.

An anti-cancer agent found in the purple secretion that the sea snail uses to protect its eggs could be used to tackle breast cancer.

The AMP Foundation and Kingsford Financial Group have sponsored Flinders Medical Centre PhD student Mr Chuang Ching Er – known to his colleagues as Lawrence - to investigate the link.

One of Mr Er's supervisors, Dr Kirsten Benkendorff, said the snails had been used for centuries.

In Roman times they were harvested for the purple dye they produce.

They were also used as a homeopathic remedy for cancers – although it turns out the diluted solutions rendered the active compounds useless.

But now the Flinders University scientists have produced an "optimised", more concentrated extract and started testing it.

"Lawrence specifically will be looking at the effect on breast cancer cell lines... we've done one test so far and it certainly looks promising," Dr Benkendorff said.

"Lawrence will be isolating some of the active compounds and testing them because what we're trying to get is something that specifically targets cancer cell lines without nasty side effects."

The compound works by interfering with the way cells replicate.

The sea snails they are using are the Australian Dogwhelk or Dicathais orbita. It is found from NSW to Western Australia, and the Flinders scientists get their specimens from an abalone farmer in Elliston.

Dr Benkendorff said the snails were "pretty special" – and that compounds from other marine molluscs were in final stage clinical trials in the United States for their anti-cancer properties.

"Quite a few molluscs that don't have the really complex immune system we have produce other interesting compounds that they use to defend themselves," she said.

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Anti-cancer agent found in sea snail secretion