生物学家指出：鲨鱼软骨“治疗”肿瘤是伪科学

根据一位生物学家的观点：目前人们越来越热衷于将鲨鱼软骨提取物做为抗癌治疗方法，这是伪科学市场操作的胜利。不仅会对鲨鱼这个物种，而且还将会对人类产生悲剧性的后果。

美迪医疗网成扬报道：美国约翰霍普金斯大学生物与比较医学系(the departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University)Gary K. Ostrander教授，在2004年11月《癌症研究》(Cancer Research)期刊上撰文指出：“由于目前误认为鲨鱼软骨可以治疗癌症，这不仅导致了鲨鱼种群数量的明显减少，而且误导了癌症患者，使他们不能采用业已证明有效的抗癌治疗。”

Ostrander教授和来自低等动物肿瘤登记部门(the Registry of Tumours in Lower Animals)一组研究人员，详细研究了40多例鲨鱼以及其它相关物种的肿瘤样本。通过研究那些在低等动物体内发现的肿瘤，研究小组将“鲨鱼不得肿瘤”的观点称为“荒谬论断”（正是这些论断成功影响了那些绝望的癌症患者，使得他们购买并服用天然鲨鱼软骨提取物）。与此同时他们也“呼唤”社会更加具有科学理性，不要受到那些熟练操纵市场的人士“不符合逻辑的观点”的影响。

“天然鲨鱼软骨之所以被推向市场做为治疗肿瘤的手段，是以“鲨鱼不得癌症”这一论断为前提的。而这是一个荒谬的论断，”Ostrander在文中写道，“人们从Internet网络上阅读或者从电视上听说：服用天然鲨鱼软骨提取物能够治疗癌症，而且他们相信无需了解这些论断是否有科学依据。”

Ostrander发现了电子媒体与伪科学潜在危害不断增加之间协同性，正是新型媒体将离奇古怪的文化好奇转化为潜在的社会问题与经济问题。Ostrander总结说：“战胜这一危害的唯一途径就是：确保政府官员与媒体从业人员接受足够的以事实为依据的科学培训，同时这些人员应当具备科学的思维与判断能力。”

Ostrnader解释说，从软骨（包括鲨鱼软骨）中高度提纯的成分，或许确实包含有利于人类癌症治疗的有益成分，但是事实上，迄今为止没有一项安慰剂对照的临床试验能够证实软骨提取物可以做为抗癌药物。

Shark Cartilage: Cancer "Cure" Shows Danger of Pseudoscience

The rising popularity of shark cartilage extract as an anti-cancer treatment is a triumph of marketing and pseudoscience over reason, with a tragic fallout for both sharks and humans, according to a biologist.

"Since shark cartilage has been promoted as a cancer cure, not only has there been a measurable decline in shark populations, but cancer patients also have been diverted from proven, effective treatments,” writes Gary K. Ostrander, a research professor in the departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University in December's issue of Cancer Research.

Ostrander and a team of researchers from the Registry of Tumours in Lower Animals detail more than 40 examples of tumours in sharks and related species. The team not only dissects what they call the "fallacious arguments” that have successfully convinced desperate cancer patients to purchase and ingest crude shark cartilage extract, but they also sound a "wake-up call” for society to become more scientifically literate and less vulnerable to skillfully mass-marketed illogical claims.

"Crude shark cartilage is marketed as a cancer cure on the premise that sharks don't get cancer. That is not true”, Ostrander writes, "People read on the Internet or hear on television that taking crude shark cartilage extract can cure them of cancer, and they believe it without demanding to see the science behind the claims”.

Ostrander sees a coherence between the electronic media and the increased potential harm of pseudoscience and that new media would help to turn quaint cultural curiosities into potential societal and ecological problems. Ostrander concludes: "The only way to combat this is to ensure that government leaders and media professionals receive adequate scientific training based on reason, and that they also develop critical thinking skills.”

Ostrander explained that highly purified components of cartilage - including from sharks - might hold some benefit for treatment of human cancers but in fact, not a single controlled clinical study has ever proven that it works as an anti-cancer agent.