IPB Student Discovered Cancer Enhancer for Malignant Lymph Nodes from Blue-Green Algae
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, including Indonesia. Globally, nearly 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer. In fact, every year alone, there are 12 million people in the world suffering from cancer and 7.6 million of them died. At present, clinical and non-clinical departments in government teaching hospitals (there are 13 teaching hospitals) usually handle all cancer problems. It is currently estimated that there will be at least 170–190 new cancer cases annually for each 100 000 people. The most frequent and primary cancers are cervix, breast, lymph node, skin and nasopharynx. Since Indonesia is now in a transition phase and has many problems concerning the economy and health care, we suggested a well-planned cancer control program. Cancer of lymph nodes (cancer of lymphoma) is on the order of the 10 most cancer diseases in Indonesia.
Referring to such hot issue, Juhrotul Aeniah, a student of Department of Aquatic Product Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science of Bogor Agricultural University (FPIK IPB) implemented the research program on "Spirulina platensis (SP) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) cultivated in organic media utilized to improve the immune system against Lymphoma. It is cancer that begins in infection-fighting cells of the immune system, " supervisors for the research program were Dr. Iriani Setyaningsih and Dr. Ir. Kustiariyah Tarman.
"If cancer treatment is now usually treated by surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Surgery has been used to treat cancer for many, many years. Surgery also plays a key role in diagnosing cancer and finding out how far it may have spread. Cancer surgery, like all cancer treatments, has its benefits, risks, and side effects. Possible complications during surgery may be caused by the surgery itself, drugs used , and your overall health. Generally speaking, the more complex the surgery is, the greater the risk of side effects, such as bone marrow suppression, neurological disorders and fertilization damage, "said Aeni.
Aeni said that currently developed and developing countries tend to re-use natural remedies for the healing of various diseases. One of the natural ingredients previously revealed to have the potential as an anticancer is Spirulina platensis. However, the medium used for growing Spirulina platensis is Walne and Zarrouk media, which is very expensive, therefore the group of IPB investigated to utilize organic media composed of urea fertilizer, Plant Catalyst, and RI1 to grow this species.
" Spirulina refers to various species of blue-green algae found naturally in lakes and grown commercially. Spirulina platensis grown in organic media has not been known its anticancer activity, it is the reason why I was doing this research. This study was to determine the anticancer activity of lymph nodes from biomass, crude extract and ficocyanin from Spirulina platensis which was cultivated in organic media, "she explained.
In her research, anticancer testing was performed in vitro using Mikrotetrazolium (MTT) assay method. This was one of the uniqueness of this study, because of its principles and methods of measuring the activity of mitochondrial hydrogenase in living cells that have the ability to convert MTT into a purple colored formazan product.
It was found that the extract of Spirulina platensis is Walne and Zarrouk media, effectively suppressed raji cells, one of lymph node cancer cells that can be used for testing lymph node cancer. It is suspected because the sample has an active component. This active component is potential as an anticancer. Not only that, Aeni also explained the growth of normal cells that become abnormal due to mutations of lymphocyte cells (white blood cells) in the lymphatic system called cancer of lymph nodes. (Wied)
