The Effects of Marine Algae on Cancer: Review

Introduction and aim:Breast Cancer is a major health problem worldwide and still lacks fully effective treatments.Marine organismssuch as seaweedshave various biological activities in this regard.Method:This review article was conducted bysearchingin databases includingPubmed and Google scholarusing keywords such as marine functional food , anti-cancer , breast cancer algae and bioactive compound during 2016- 2017.Result:Fucoxanthins are major carotenoids produced by seaweeds, and their structure includes an allelic bond and an oxygenic functional group; which have protective functions against cancer. Fucoxanthins isolated from algaehave been tested against prostate cancer. Their most significant effect was found on the viability of prostate cell lines, inhibiting 75–100% of cell growth. Carrageenans,the other compound of red seaweeds,are sulfated galactans which inhibited the growth of breast, colon, liver, and osteosarcoma cell lines, similarly to the results obtained with commercial carrageenan. Halogenated monoterpenes are secondary metabolites of seaweeds and usually contain chlorine, bromine and iodine. These compounds are synthesized by seaweeds and secreted outside the cell as a defense against environmental insults, but also exhibit important anticancer activity. Halogenated monoterpenes, isolated from the seaweeds showed important anti-proliferative activity compared with the anticancer drug cisplatin.Conclusion: Many studies have showed the positive effects of seaweeds as anti breastcancersuch as brown seaweeds that have a diversity of novel compounds and proved their strong potential against cancer cells without toxicity.

Keywords:

Marine , Anti-cancer , Drug , Seaweeds