Fish protein extract enhances clinical response to salvage chemotherapy in colon cancer patients

Abstract

Salvage treatment for advanced colon cancer, despite a high rate in objective clinical response, provides no significant benefit in terms of increased survival when compared to supportive care. Zebrafish embryo extracts have been shown to re-activate apoptotic mechanisms in resistant cancer cells and to counteract chemotherapy-induced side effects, both in in vitro and in vivo studies. The present pilot, observational trial compares both safety and overall survival in two randomized groups of advanced colon cancer patients treated with Regorafenib as salvage therapy versus Regorafenib plus Synchro Levels®, a food supplement containing a peptide mix. At 12 months, a statistically significant increase in survival was observed in the latter group (75% versus 33.3%). Similarly, in Synchro Levels® treated patients Performance Status is largely preserved during the treatment, whereas it declines rapidly in the Regorafenib group.  Overall, this data suggests that Synchro Levels® may improve the clinical response of salvage therapy, by both modulating drug responsiveness and counteracting drug-related side effects. Further larger, randomized trials are warranted to confirm such promising preliminary results.