Is red algae a useful supplement to take alongside cancer treatment?

There have been some recent studies which have pointed to red algae potentially having a role to play as an additional supplement alongside traditional cancer treatments due to its abundant bioactive compounds.

In 2020, Khotimchenko, M. et al. reviewed the studies which have been done detailing the marine red algae anticancer and antimetastatic properties. They found that a growing number of research results suggest that the bioactive sulfated polysaccharides contained in marine red algae such as carrageenan, fucoidan, laminarin, and others exert anticancer and antimetastatic properties.

The main findings were:

• Marine red algae contain sulphated polysaccharides with antitumour properties.

• Low molecular highly sulphated carrageenans are the most active against tumors.

• Oligocarrageenans induce G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells.

• Carrageenans may be used as adjuvants in the vaccines based on dendritic cells.

• Oligocarrageenans weaken the immune suppressing effects of the antitumour drugs.

If you are interested in reading the whole study, it is available here.

Khotimchenko, M., et al., (2020). Antitumor potential of carrageenans from marine red algae. Carbohydrate Polymers, Volume 246.

Additional evidence for the anti-cancer properties of algae, including red algae, can also be seen in the chapter from Tripathi, R., et al. in the 2021 edition of 'Evolutionary Diversity as a Source for Anticancer Molecules', pages 155-189.

An extract from said chapter:

"The algal compounds such as some polysaccharide, glycoprotein, siphonaxanthin, plocornulides, sodwanone, stypodiol diacetate, cannabinoids, etc. have been well studied using different cancer cell lines and they showed promising results for cancer treatment and improvement of quality of life of the patients. The molecular mechanisms of algal bioactive compound as anticancer include dysregulation of the mitochondrial dynamics, caspases activation, amplification of death signals through death receptors, etc. These mechanisms may support to defeat the multifaceted of cancerous cells."

Tripathi, R., et al., (2021). Chapter 7 - Prophyletic origin of algae as potential repository of anticancer compounds. In: Evolutionary Diversity as a Source for Anticancer Molecules. p155-189. Available online.