Scientists in the UK have revealed that they have uncovered a potential new cancer treatment which could have less side effects than conventional chemo therapy drugs.
The latest breakthrough which has been named “Cockle-chemo” could remarkably cure cancers including leukaemia, breast, colon and lung cancers using the sugars found inside the small shellfish.
Researchers at the University of Salford say the new findings could especially prove cruical in curing cancer in children as the treatment would consist of smaller doses and ultimately have less side effects.
The latest findings which have been published in the Marine Drugs Journal say the mollusc sugars have proven to be effective in treating cancers such as breast, lung, colon and leukaemia as some normal chemo therapy drugs.
Biomedical scientists say the latest developments could have a positive impact on the way the illness is treated in the future.
They also say that although sugars derived from mammals in the past have proven ineffective with them having the opposite results in terms of tumor shrinkage.
However sugars found in shellfish has had a different outcome as they have a completely different structure compared to other mammals.
Scientists now hope that given its rather simple procedure to extract the sugars, they believe they could be used to work alongside other traditional treatments when it comes to curing the illness especially in children.