Shark cartilage contains inhibitors of tumor angiogenesis.
Shark cartilage contains a substance that strongly inhibits the growth of new blood vessels toward solid tumors, thereby restricting tumor growth. The abundance of this factor in shark cartilage, in contrast to cartilage from mammalian sources, may make sharks an ideal source of the inhibitor and may help to explain the rarity of neoplasms in these animals.
D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D003315:Cornea; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011817:Rabbits; D012754:Sharks