Shark oil
to be tested
on cancer

The product will be used on
prostate patients whose cases are
advanced, along with regular treatment

By Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondent

LIHUE -- A Kauai urologist and a Maui fish processor have begun producing small quantities of shark liver oil they believe may be useful in suppressing cancer.

The product has the potential of becoming a major nutritional supplement, but both Dr. Larry Raithaus of the Kauai Medical Clinic and John Muder, chief executive officer of Diamond Bay Specialty Seafoods in Kahului, stress the project is only in its infancy.

Raithaus has received permission from Wilcox Hospital to test the supplement on 14 volunteer patients with advanced prostate cancer, in addition to traditional treatment they already are receiving.

"We should know in about three months whether it is at all effective," Raithaus said.

In patients with advanced cancer, the level of PSA -- prostate specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate that may indicate cancer -- doubles every three months.

"If it levels off or declines, that will be a strong indication it is working," he said.

On a trip to the then-Soviet Union 11 years ago, Raithaus, who speaks fluent Russian, learned of a clinic in Soviet Georgia where cancer patients were being treated with shark liver oil, apparently with considerable success.

The main drawback to the treatment was that the oil had a shelf life of only about 10 days.

"I'm not saying it's a cancer treatment," Raithaus noted.

"But it appears to boost the immune system to the point where cancer regresses."

Raithaus convinced the National Cancer Institute to test some of the material from Russia.

But the experiments ended with the overthrow of the Soviet government, he said, because he was unable to obtain more of the medication.

Raithaus said the test results indicates the oil has the potential of giving cancer patients the ability to withstand much higher doses of radiation in cancer treatment.

But it's the effect of the shark liver oil on the immune system that intrigues him the most.

Raithaus has a patent on a process for extracting shark oil in a form that will have a long shelf life.

That's what the cannery on Maui is providing, and that's what he plans to try on his patients, he said.

"At this point, I just want to assess it," he said.

"There is a potential market as a food supplement, but my hope is that some large pharmaceutical company will buy my patent and explore it even further."

He said he doesn't know what makes it effective.

"All I am doing at this point is trying to determine if there is a tapering off of the progression of the cancer in people who use this substance."

Raithaus is being especially cautious of not running into difficulties with the Food and Drug Administration.

He is preparing the extract as a capsule rather than for injection, for example, so that it qualifies as a dietary supplement.

Muder said his plant is consulting regularly with the FDA to make sure all of its standards for what they term a "pure food substance" are being met.

He said the equipment he is using now to produce small quantities of shark liver oil is giving him the opportunity to learn what would be needed if a market can be developed for large sales as a dietary supplement.

A steady supply of shark livers would hardly be a problem, both Raithaus and Muder said.

Federal fishery officials estimate 60,000 blue sharks are caught in Hawaiian waters every year by longline fishermen, they said, who cut off fins for sale to Asian markets and dump the sharks back into the ocean.