Do you love sushi as much as I do? Then you will likely be excited by the news presented this week at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research.

In a preliminary study, researchers from two Universities and an Australian hospital experimented with compounds derived with seaweed and used them in experiments on types of lymphoma that are classified as being in the B-cell group. Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system, classified into two types: Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s. These cancers are then broken down into sub-types according to B- and T-cell groups. The B-cell group is especially resistant to standard treatments used today.

The beneficial compound in seaweed is called fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide chemically similar to heparin (a blood thinner). The scientists used an extract of the seaweed, available commercially, and found that it inhibited growth of cancerous cells but did not affect healthy cells. The compound appears to work by preventing the tumor cell from adhering to the tissue’s extracellular matrix. Fucoidan also appears to actually kill tumor cells in both mice and humans, a process called apoptosis by suppressing the activity of a factor involved in cell proliferation.

Fucoidan is primarily found in species of brown seaweed, such as kombu, limu moui, bladderwrack, wakame, mozuku, and hijiki. (Nori, the most common type of seaweed used in sushi dishes here in the U.S. is made of the red alga Porphyra) It is also found in the sea cucumber.

Brown seaweed has been a mainstay of the Japanese diet since ancient times. One study found that inhabitants of Okinawa, Japan have some of the highest life expectancies and consume about 1 gram of kombu seaweed per daySeaweed extract and fucoidan are available as nutritional supplements from various retail outlets. Most appear to be fairly expensive, however, and one should keep in mind that not all products are equal in their quality and effectiveness. The supplements, for most, are probably safe to consume, according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center review of the supplement product.

Because fucoidan is an anticoagulant and antithombotic, persons on blood thinning medications such as Coumadin should not take supplements of this compound unless approved by a physician. And as for sushi, those with lymphoma should not consume raw fish for risk of acquiring a potentially deadly food-borne infection.