Drugs From Plant, Fish Oils May Fight Cancer

Drugs derived from plant and fish oils are showing early promise in treating a range of cancers, researchers said Friday.

Their applications could range from reducing the side effects of radiotherapy to use in so-called photodynamic therapy, to “magic bullets” that would seek out and destroy cancer cells without harming normal tissues.

Clinical trials on the drugs, developed by Anglo-Canadian Scotia Pharmaceutical, are now under way after promising tests in tissue culture and on animals.

The drugs Scotia is developing--which are code-named EF27, EF9 and EF13--are thought to kill cancer cells by releasing simple, highly-reactive chemical units called free radicals when they come into contact with them. They are also toxic only to these cells, for reasons that are not clearly understood.