Searching for Anticancer Drugs in Marine Algae

Abstract

Cancer is a global health concern. The need to develop new cancer treatments is vital, as each newborn today has a 41% chance of developing some form of cancer in their lifetime (Howlander, et al. 1975-2009). Since cancer is not one specific disease, but a classification of many evolving types of cell mutations affecting numerous sites in the body, there is no single cure. Instead, a key strategy is to find a treatment that targets one type of cancerous cell while remaining non-toxic to a person’s healthy cells. This characteristic of toxicity at a cellular level while remaining nontoxic to the organism as a whole is known as cytotoxicity.