[_ Old Earth _] Do They' Or Don't They ?

[Lewis]

First we are told that sharks don't get cancer, now we are told that that they do. There was a lot of promise using the shark to treat human cancer, now I am reading something else.

Sharks Do Get Cancer: Tumor Found in Great White
http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/sharks-do-get-cancer-tumor-found-in-great-white-131205.htm

SHARKS DON'T GET CANCER
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303160511

 

[Barbarian]

The literature indicates that cancer is rare in sharks.

Scientists have known for more than 150 years that sharks get cancer. And yet the belief persists that the animals don't suffer from the disease.

That misconception is promoted in part by those who sell shark cartilage, who claim that the substance will help cure cancer, said David Shiffman, a shark researcher and doctoral student at the University of Miami. But no studies have shown that shark cartilage is an effective treatment, and the demand for the material has helped decimate shark populations, researchers say
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sharks-do-get-cancer-tumor-found-great-white/

Cartilage from cows (bovine cartilage) and sharks has been studied as a treatment for cancer and other medical conditions for more than 30 years. It was once believed that sharks, whose skeletons are made mostly from cartilage, do not develop cancer. This caused interest in cartilage as a possible treatment for cancer. Although malignant tumors are rare in sharks, cancers have been found in these animals.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cartilage/patient/page8/AllPages/Print

I like the comment by one researcher who said that even though sharks are resistant to cancer, eating shark won't make you resistant to cancer any more than eating Michael Jordan will make you a great basketball player.