A Japanese research team has succeeded in developing an efficient cancer-promoting agent and will announce its findings at an international conference in Honolulu that starts Thursday, according to a member of the group.

According to team leader Masakatsu Shibazaki, professor of synthetic organic chemistry at the University of Tokyo, the cancer-promoting agent can be used to study how cancer develops.

Shibazaki also said that by modifying the structure of the agent, there is a possibility that in the future, it could be used to develop medicines to prevent cancer.

The agent was developed using a substance called decursin extracted from a type of samphire, a common European herb found in coastal regions.

Shibazaki explained that there are two virtually identical types of decursin, but only one type can be used in this process. Decursin itself is not carcinogenic but a so-called promoter that works upon another substance, the "initiator," to cause the cancer.

Shibazaki's team developed a catalyst using lanthanum, a rare chemical element, and succeeded in composing the only decursin that can work as a cancer-promoter in an efficient way, even up to industrial-production level.

Cancer is believed to develop after an initiator damages a gene and the promoter is connected with protein kinase C. However, there are 11 kinds of PKC and it is not yet known how any of them relate to cancer development.

Shibazaki said his team will eventually discover the function of each PKC and get a full picture of the development of cancer as they continue to experiment by modifying decursin's structure.

Shibazaki's team plans to announce the result of their research at the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem 2000).