DCA Articles & Research Links

DCA as a Cancer Treatment - Sodium Dichloroacetate

This page has a lot of miscellaneous topics

Case Studies:
1. Skin Cancer and DCA
2. Italian scan results: shrinkage of lung tumor and complete regression of brain and liver tumors
3. Oracle's wife's reports: shrinkage of non-small cell lung and lymph node tumors
4. Bile duct tumor possible full remission.
5. Lymphoma remission using DCA alone.
6. Kidney cancer
7. A Breast Cancer Story

Medicor Cancer Centres Reports:

September 5 , 2008 Report. Link to their site.

Medicor December 12, 2007 Report
Medicor link to first data report, on their site.

Use of Oral Dichloracetate for Palliation of Leg Pain Arising from Metastatic Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma: A Case Report. By Dr. Akbar Khan. January 2011, JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE. Reprinted with permission from JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE, 2010, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., New Rochelle, NY

Live Licensing & In-life testing: an alternative to clinical trials.

There is another way around this nightmare of high drug development costs. " Visiongain predicts that the current phase I to IV clinical testing process will eventually be selectively or wholly replaced by a system known as “in-life” testing or “live” licensing. Those proposals involve cumulative testing of the drug throughout its lifecycle. The industry would continually test drugs with smaller, more focused clinical trials. If a trial shows efficacy and safety, a live license would be given, allowing the company to market the drug in a limited manner. Already, the FDA and the EMEA have shown favourable interest in such developments - amongst other amendments to current practice." Link Link2

Library:
Growth Properties of Colonic Tumor Cells are a Function of the Intrinsic Mitochondrial Membrane Potential, BG Heerdt, MA Houston, LH Augenlicht, 2006.

Montbriand papers on Herbs and Natural Substances (natural substances and cancer)

Antioxidants and Cancer: A Brief Discussion on Controversies, Contradictions and Paradoxes by MJ Gonzalez et. al.

The Long-term Survival of a Patient With Pancreatic Cancer With Metastases to the Liver After Treatment With the Intravenous alpha-Lipoic Acid/Low-Dose Naltrexone Protocol by Burton M. Berkson, Daniel M. Rubin, and Arthur J. Berkson (email for Dr. Daniel Rubin)

Revisiting the ALA/N (-Lipoic Acid/Low-Dose Naltrexone) Protocol for People With Metastatic and Nonmetastatic Pancreatic Cancer: A Report of 3 New Cases. Burton M. Berkson, Daniel M. Rubin, Arthur J. Berkson. 2009.

3-bromopyruvate articles 1 2 3 4 5
3BP Patent Application: Composition and method for the efficacious and safe administration of halopyruvate for the treatment of cancer

Emotional issues as a cause of cancer

Does emotional status affect health and lead to an increased risk of cancer? Can improving your emotional health improve your ability to get well? It might be good to consider if there is a difference between grief and the internalizing of emotions? Click here for a look at some articles on the topic.

DCA in the News

Cancer cachexia

Should Anti-oxidants be taken while on cancer therapy?

Dangers of Antioxidants in Cancer Patients: A Review

Antioxidants may interfere with breast cancer treatment

Cancer Prevention:
Since 1971, when the "War on Cancer" was initiated, the cancer incidence rate has climbed 33%. We need to make changes in our lifestyle.

Two articles by Dr. Bruce Ames:
DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer.

Micronutrients prevent cancer and delay aging.
- - - - -
Decreased incidence of prostate cancer with selenium supplementation: results of a double-blind cancer prevention trial Showed a 63 percent reduction in cases of prostate cancer. Brazil nuts are a great source of selenium.
- - - - -
Eat healthy:
Tomatoes and cancer risk
Fruits and vegetables: Uruguay study
premenopausal breast cancer
Fruit consumption protects even smokers from lung cancer
Fried and grilled meats and margarine (has trans fatty acids) are associated with risk for pancreatic cancer

- - - -
Do not eat foods with Trans Fatty acids. It is very damaging to health:
Breast cancer and 2008 bc article
Prostate cancer
Colon cancer
Coronary heart disease among women
Patients with documented coronary artery disease

California passed a law to phase out trans fatty acids. We encourage all states and nations to do the same. BAN TRANS FATS!

- - - -
DeTox (getting rid of heavy metals):
A digression: DeTox might restore your hair color. We attended the 2008 Cancer Control Convention in Burbank California. A guest speaker was Marilou Henner. She helped her husband beat bladder cancer "mostly" without surgery and he is now (2 Sept 2008) nearly five years from diagnosis and doing great. She said that after Detox Michael's hair color, which was white, returned to normal! So it's possible to get your hair color back. More on her presentation.

An Explosion of Cancer Revealed in Inuit (Eskimo) Populations

The recent study (September 2008) in Lancet Oncology titled Cancer Patterns in Inuit Populations reveals clearly the effects of our lifestyle. Cancer among the Inuit was almost non-existant in 1900. This summary in Cancer Monthly is helpful. "During the second half of the 20th century, Inuit societies underwent major changes in lifestyle and living conditions, and the risk of lifestyle-associated tumours, especially cancers of the lung, colon, and breast, increased considerably after changes in smoking, diet, and reproductive factors. "

Our food supply's nutritional value is declining:

Historical changes in the mineral content of fruits and vegetables Anne-Marie Mayer, British Food Journal, 1997 Volume 99, Issue 6, Page 207 - 211

"The eight minerals that are usually analyzed are Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Cu, Zn. A comparison of the mineral content of 20 fruits and 20 vegetables grown in the 1930s and the 1980s (published in the UK Government’s Composition of Foods tables) shows several marked reductions in mineral content. Shows that there are statistically significant reductions in the levels of Ca, Mg, Cu and Na in vegetables and Mg, Fe, Cu and K in fruit. The only mineral that showed no significant differences over the 50 year period was P."|
-----
Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 23, No. 6, 669-682 (2004)

"As a group, the 43 foods show apparent, statistically reliable declines (R1) for 6 nutrients (protein, Ca, P, Fe, riboflavin and ascorbic acid), but no statistically reliable changes for 7 other nutrients."
----
Trace elements slowly accumulating, depleting in soils Andrew C. Chang, Albert L. Page. California Agriculture, March–April 2000
Although the accumulation of chromium, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, copper and zinc on cropland will increase significantly over time, the rate of accumulation is slow and the added trace elements are not likely to interfere with farming in the foreseeable future. At the same time, arsenic, boron, molybdenum and selenium are being depleted from West Side soils.

Nutritional Supplementation in Treating Cancer:

This section should be gigantic. It really matters.

Nutritional and Lifestyle Modification to Augment Oncology Care: An Overview
Charles B. Simone, M.D.;Nicole L. Simone, B.S.E.;Charles B. Simone, II / The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 12, 4th Quarter 1997 / Dr. Simone was a consulting physician to President Reagan when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"Cancer patients should alter their life-styles (Ten Point Plan), which includes modifying nutritional factors and taking certain vitamins and minerals in doses outlined, especially if they receive chemo-therapy and/or radiation."

Does standard chemotherapy work? How safe is anything 'standard' your oncologist wants to put you through?

Long-term follow-up of patients with complete remission following combination chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 1996 Aug;14(8):2197-205

CONCLUSION: Most patients with MBC (metastatic breast cancer) treated with systemic therapies have only temporary responses to treatment, but some patients continue in CR (complete remission) following initial treatment. These data show that a small percentage of patients achieve long-term remissions with standard chemotherapy regimens.
------

How Dangerous Are CT Scans? Read this Time Magazine article. CT scans expose us to vastly more radiation than X-rays and are especially dangerous for children. Link to The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging.

-----
Page with information on how X-rays increase cancer risk. especially for the young.
-----

Second Cancers caused by cancer treatment

ACS article

Second cancer following cancer of the breast in Connecticut, 1935-82.
"Women treated with radiation were at higher risk of developing a second breast neoplasm (RR = 3.9) than nonirradiated women (RR = 2.8)"

Risk of second malignant neoplasms among long-term survivors of testicular cancer Journal Of The National Cancer Institute, Vol 89, 1429-1439 1997.
"Secondary leukemia was associated with both radiotherapy and chemotherapy, whereas excess cancers of the stomach, bladder, and, possibly, pancreas were associated mainly with radiotherapy."

-----
Oncology is a business. Remember your oncologist is there to make money.

The Oncology Business Review
Oncology Business Week

Your oncologist is not likely working in YOUR best interest. Kickbacks are big money for oncologists.

Don't look to a doctor for understanding "On average, the physicians in the study responded with empathy only 10% of the time. The oncologists were a little more caring than the surgeons, responding empathically about 14% of the time, compared with about 6% for surgeons"

Exposing the links between doctors and Big Pharma New Scientist, 25 February 2009

Harvard Medical School students expose instructors who promote big pharmaceutical company interests. 18% of the professors and lecturers at Harvard Medical School admit they receive drug company money, often hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Those medical professors are drug company marketing agents.

Are Biopsies Safe?

Implantation metastasis caused by fine needle aspiration biopsy following curative resection of stage IB non-small cell lung cancer Eur J Cardiothorac Surg, 2001;20:868-870. Kara et al.
"The tumor implantation risk and the related complications should be considered in patients with operable bronchogenic carcinoma undergoing a tranthoracic needle aspiration biopsy." A rather graphic article.
............
Needle aspiration in lung cancer. Risk of tumor implantation is not negligible WR Hix and BL Aaron. Chest 1990;97;516-517.
"Although rare, the potential for tumor implantation must be seriously considered when fine needle aspiration biopsy is recommended for diagnosis of lung tumors in patients who are good operative candidates and whose lesions are resectable for a potential cure."

Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytologic Technique for Lung Cancer Has a High Potential of Malignant Cell Spread Through the Tract Noriyoshi Sawabata, Mitsunori Ohta, and Hajime Maeda. (Chest. 2000;118:936-939.
"Between FNAC and tumor excision, inasmuch as FNAC is less traumatic than tumor excision, FNAC is preferable despite the higher potential of malignant cell spread. In conclusion, we demonstrated a 60% frequency of malignant cell spread from tumors through the needle tract."

High incidence of in-transit metastases after sentinel node biopsy in patients with melanoma. Estourgie SH, Nieweg OE, Kroon BB. Br J Surg. 2004 Oct;91(10):1370-1
"CONCLUSION: Sentinel node biopsy was associated with a higher risk of in-transit metastases. This finding does not support the routine use of sentinel node biopsy in the management of melanoma."

Tumor seeding following stereotactic biopsy of brain metastases : Report of two cases. Karlsson et al. Journal of Neurosurgery. 1997, vol. 87, no2, pp. 327-330
" In a series of 22 patients treated with gamma knife surgery for brain metastasis in whom biopsy specimens were obtained via stereotactically guided procedures before the radiosurgical treatment was administered, two cases with evidence of tumor seeding were observed on subsequent follow-up examination. These findings contradict the opinion that the risk for tumor spread after a biopsy is negligible. "

Tumor seeding after fine needle puncture or biopsy of hepatic lesions. J. Reichen
Tumor seeding after both, conventional biopsy and fine needle puncture does occur and can negate the benefits of subsequent surgery. A nice tabulation of case reports can be found in (1). A recent systematic review identified 179 events in 99 articles (2); the authors give the following estimates for tumor seeding:
2.29 % for biopsy (range 0 - 11%).
1.4 % for percutaneous ethanol injection (range 1.15 - 1.85) when used with biopsy
0.95 % for radiofrequency ablation with and 0.61 % without concomitant biopsy.
Local excision may be curative (3) but major surgery might be required (4). For this reason, we discourage biopsy or fine needle puncture of suspect lesions. If the diagnosis cannot be made according to the EASL criteria (5), laparoscopic biopsy is usually advocated in patients with potentially curative lesions.

XMRV Virus

(xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus)

Integration Site Preference of Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus, a New Human Retrovirus Associated with Prostate Cancer 2008

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome also appears related to this virus. See Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 2009

The Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro Immune Disease has a great Q and A page on XMRV.

Epstein-Barr Virus

The Epstein-Barr virus appears to be the cause of several cancers including Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Burkett’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Further references:

Epstein-Barr virus linked to invasive breast cancer, lymphoma

EBV-related Lymphomas

Epstein-Barr Virus Causes Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Epstein-Barr Virus Causes Gastric Carcinoma

"The rate of nasopharyngeal cancer is 25-40 times more common in the Inuit than among other populations, and salivary cancers are 5-10 times more common. Both of these cancers are associated with the Epstein-Barr virus, which affects the Inuit at an early age." Source

Epstein-Barr Virus Protein Contributes To Cancer and Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen 1 Contributes to Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma through Disruption of PML Nuclear Bodies

Other Virus-Cancer Links

Viruses found in lung tumours. Published online 25 April 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.779
"Researchers have found evidence that two common viruses may be lurking behind some cases of lung cancer: human papilloma virus (HPV), already recognized as a cause of cervical cancer, and the measles virus. "

Mouse mammary tumor virus Both breast cancer and leukemia.
Mouse Virus Linked to Breast Cancer " A virus that infects the common house mouse may cause more than one in three cases of breast cancer in the U.S., researchers report."

Is There A Brain Tumor Virus? January 9, 2009. Newsweek. and
Stamp out common virus to beat brain cancer " New strategy could help beat tenacious brain tumours. Cancer experts have suggested a new way to tackle particularly tenacious brain tumours known as glioblastomas. Attacking a common virus often found in these cancers may halt their growth, say researchers." Published online 23 May 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.855

Virus found in some prostate cancer patients “There is now a suggestion that prostate cancer could be caused by an infectious disease.”

Is a Retrovirus Implicated in Familial Prostate Cancer? and news story.

Potential 'Weak Link' Between Virus And Liver Cancer Discovered "In findings reported in the journal Molecular Cell, the researchers traced the pathway by which the hepatitis B virus (HBV) leads to development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and found that it "turns off" an enzyme known as GSK-3ß, which acts to suppress tumor formation as well as inhibit the spread of cancer."

Hepatitis C May Increase Risk for Kidney Cancer

The relationship between simian virus 40 and mesothelioma. "When simian virus 40 is injected intracardially into hamsters, 60% develop and die of malignant mesothelioma." "SUMMARY: Available evidence appears sufficient to link simian virus 40 either alone or in conjunction with asbestos in causing malignant mesotheliomas; however, it is still insufficient to speculate about the contribution of simian virus 40 to the overall incidence of malignant mesotheliomas."

A Skin Cancer Virus? Science 22 February 2008: "High-throughput DNA sequencing has identified a new human virus in a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer."

Rous sarcoma virus and The Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) "This was the first demonstration of an oncogenic virus — that is, a virus capable of causing cancer. The tumor was a sarcoma, a tumor of connective tissue. The virus was named the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)."

Simian sarcoma virus (SSV) and simian sarcoma associated virus (SSAV) "Simian sarcoma virus (SSV) belongs to the group of mammalian type C retroviruses and can produce tumors in primates. Originally isolated from a fibrosarcoma in a woolly monkey, SSV is a replication-defective v-onc virus which carries the sis oncogene. In order to propagate, SSV requires a replication-competent helper virus, simian sarcoma virus-associated virus (SSAV)."

Common virus linked to colon cancer and Evidence for an Association between JC Virus and Colorectal Neoplasia

TT virus infection and pancreatic cancer: Relationship or accidental coexistence
Hepatitis B Virus Associated With Pancreatic Cancer
Study Links Hepatitis B and Cancer of Pancreas

High co-prevalence of genogroup 1 TT virus and human papillomavirus is associated with poor clinical outcome of laryngeal carcinoma

Esophageal Cancer is linked to several viruses:
The role of the human papilloma virus in esophageal cancer.
Esophageal cancer in Germany is associated with Epstein-Barr-virus but not with papillomaviruses
JC virus may play role in esophageal cancer

Cervical cancer and HPV. Link.

Bacteria and Cancer

Helicobacter pylori is connected to a variety of cancers:

Gastric cancer: (this is very well established)
Helicobacter pylori Infection and the Development of Gastric Cancer

Gastric MALT lymphoma:
Regression of gastric MALT lymphoma after eradication of Helicobacter pylori ...

Pancreatic cancer is debated:
This study says H. pylori is not connected to pancreatic cancer:
Here are some studies that show support:
Effects of Helicobacter pylori Infection on Human Pancreatic Cancer Cell Line
Reversal of elevated pancreatic enzymes after Helicobacter pylori eradication

Mosquitoes and Cancer

I came across this while researching the strange cancer, Devil facial tumour disease, devastating Tasmanian Devils. This odd type of cancer, a parasitic cell line already reported to exist in dogs and hamsters, may be much more prevalent that currently known. Imagine how such cancers might genetically diverge over millions of years. The mosquito has been shown to be able to vector the cell line in hamsters. Here are some more links to mosquito transmission:

Association Between Malaria Incidence and All Cancer Mortality in Fifty U.S. States and the District of Columbia. 2010. Link.