Scientists cure cancer, but no one takes notice
Update, 16th May 2011: Several websites are reporting that last week ‘cancer was cured without anyone reporting on it’. This is not true and seems, we think, to have arisen from a misreading of the date on the most recent paper on DCA (which was published on May 12th 2010 – i.e. this time last year).
Everything we wrote in the post and comments below stands – DCA is still only a ‘potential’ cancer treatment, and more research is needed to find out whether it’s safer or more effective than existing therapies.
- Henry
DCA has been tested in a small trial
The controversial drug DCA (dichloroacetate) is in the headlines again, after researchers in Canada carried out a small-scale clinical trial of the drug in five patients with advanced brain tumours.
Over the past year or two there have been several articles in the news and on the internet about DCA, which was claimed to be cheap, safe and “kill most cancers”.
Understandably this caused a great deal of interest, especially as DCA is an off-patent drug and appears to be non-toxic to humans (although it can cause significant side effects, as we’ll see later).
But before we jump to conclusions and hail DCA as a ‘wonder drug’, we need to look at the science behind the headlines.
What is DCA and how does it work?
Mitochondria are the ‘power stations’ in our cells
All our cells need energy to grow and function, including cancer cells. Simply put, our cells usually generate energy by breaking down sugar (glucose). To do this, they use a process known as the Krebs cycle, which takes place in tiny structures within the cell called mitochondria (the ‘power stations’ of the cell).
But cancer cells bypass this cycle and produce energy using a simpler process, known as glycolysis, which takes place outside the mitochondria in the cell’s cytoplasm (the main part of the cell).
Mitochondria play a crucial role in cells. As well as generating energy for the cell, they can also trigger the cell to die if it is faulty – a process that helps stop cancers from forming in the first place. Because cancer cells seem to switch off their mitochondria, scientists think this is one way in which cancer cells are able to evade death and remain immortal.
DCA, or dichloroacetate, is a very simple chemical and is similar to some of the chemicals involved in the Krebs cycle. In 2007, researchers at the University of Alberta (led by Evangelos Michelakis) found that adding DCA to cancer cells grown in the lab kick-starts the Krebs cycle, turning the mitochondria back on again. This caused the cancer cells to stop multiplying and die. The team discovered that DCA didn’t affect healthy cells, because their mitochondria were functioning normally.
DCA has been tested as a treatment for children and adults with certain rare metabolic disorders. This means that, at the doses needed to treat these diseases at least, DCA has been through clinical trials aimed at assessing its safety. Based on their results, the researchers have proposed that DCA could also be useful in treating cancer.
To begin to investigate if this is indeed the case, Michelakis and his team started by carrying out experiments on cancer cells grown in the lab. The team also studied rats that had been injected with cancer cells. They found that DCA could slow the growth of the rats’ tumours, and reduce their size. This did not prove that the cancers were completely cured, or that DCA could prevent cancers from growing.
It is important to stress that DCA had not then been tested as a cancer treatment in humans, despite the implication in news headlines that it “kills most cancers”. There are many research papers produced by scientists around the world every year that reveal potential new treatments for cancer. But it is important that every discovery is carefully investigated to make sure that it is effective and safe for use in patients, and DCA is no exception.
The University of Alberta researchers received approval for a human cancer trial in September 2007, involving 50 patients. Now they have published the first results from five of those patients in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The new trial
In this study, Michelakis and his team gave DCA to five patients with advanced glioblastoma, a type of brain tumour, in combination with surgery, radiotherapy and a drug called temozolomide. It’s important to point out that the aim of this study was not to find out whether DCA could treat glioblastoma, but to figure out the safest dose to use for cancer patients. We already know that the drug can be safely given to humans – although it can cause side effects – but this is the first time it has been tested in people with cancer.
The study shed light on the dose that could be given to patients without causing nerve problems or other serious side effects. Four patients were still alive after 18 months, and three showed some shrinkage of their tumour, but it is impossible to tell with such a small study whether this is longer than might be expected. And, given that they were also receiving other treatment, it’s hard to know if it was due to DCA at all.
As well as this small trial, the researchers also looked at the effect of DCA on tumour samples from 49 other glioblastoma patients. They found that DCA could switch mitochondria back on in the cancer cells, although – crucially – it’s still not clear exactly how it’s doing this.
Finally, the team looked at tumour samples taken from the five patients on the trial, both before and after treatment with DCA, and found that the drug was again helping to switch mitochondria on. They also discovered other differences in the cancer cells’ metabolism before and after treatment.
A key gap in this trial is that, as we’ve mentioned above, it’s not clear exactly how DCA is working. The researchers suggest that the drug may target cancer stem cells and prevent the growth of blood vessels into tumour, although they didn’t actually prove this.
Is it safe?
These results show that lower doses of DCA could, at least in theory, be given to cancer patients while avoiding some of the damaging side effects seen at higher doses. For example, a clinical trial of DCA for a childhood disease found that the drug caused significant side effects, affecting the nervous system. It is also known to be an environmental pollutant. And researchers have found that DCA can actually cause cancer in animals.
This is not necessarily a barrier to the use of DCA as a treatment for cancer – there are a number of powerful cancer drugs that are carcinogens themselves. And this is why we need to test them in clinical trials (as Michelakis and his team have begun to do here) to discover how they can be safely used to treat patients while minimising any harmful effects.
Read more: http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2010/05/12/potential-cancer-drug-dca-tested-in-early-trials/
or here: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/05/dichloroacetate_dca_and_cancer_deja_vu_a.php
Original article.
Canadian researchers find a simple cure for cancer, but major pharmaceutical companies are not interested.
Researchers at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada have cured cancer last week, yet there is a little ripple in the news or in TV. It is a simple technique using very basic drug. The method employs dichloroacetate, which is currently used to treat metabolic disorders. So, there is no concern of side effects or about their long term effects.
This drug doesn’t require a patent, so anyone can employ it widely and cheaply compared to the costly cancer drugs produced by major pharmaceutical companies.
Canadian scientists tested this dichloroacetate (DCA) on human’s cells; it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells and left the healthy cells alone. It was tested on Rats inflicted with severe tumors; their cells shrank when they were fed with water supplemented with DCA. The drug is widely available and the technique is easy to use, why the major drug companies are not involved? Or the Media interested in this find?
In human bodies there is a natural cancer fighting human cell, the mitochondria, but they need to be triggered to be effective. Scientists used to think that these mitochondria cells were damaged and thus ineffective against cancer. So they used to focus on glycolysis, which is less effective in curing cancer and more wasteful. The drug manufacturers focused on this glycolysis method to fight cancer. This DCA on the other hand doesn’t rely on glycolysis instead on mitochondria; it triggers the mitochondria which in turn fights the cancer cells.
The side effect of this is it also reactivates a process called apoptosis. You see, mitochondria contain an all-too-important self-destruct button that can’t be pressed in cancer cells. Without it, tumors grow larger as cells refuse to be extinguished. Fully functioning mitochondria, thanks to DCA, can once again die.
With glycolysis turned off, the body produces less lactic acid, so the bad tissue around cancer cells doesn’t break down and seed new tumors.
Pharmaceutical companies are not investing in this research because DCA method cannot be patented, without a patent they can’t make money, like they are doing now with their AIDS Patent. Since the pharmaceutical companies won’t develop this, the article says other independent laboratories should start producing this drug and do more research to confirm all the above findings and produce drugs. All the groundwork can be done in collaboration with the Universities, who will be glad to assist in such research and can develop an effective drug for curing cancer.
You can access the original research for this cancer here.
This article wants to raise awareness for this study, hope some independent companies and small startup will pick up this idea and produce these drugs, because the big companies won’t touch it for a long time.
Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Scientists_cure_cancer__but_no_one_takes_notice
please forward all future information to the above E-Mail address Thank you Lee Crowther
I fully understand the FDA and how they work it is not in our best interest to wait all the time to prove all that is coming down the stream of medical science…more human trials are needed and quicker .
I hope this is THE SILVER BULLET!!! I don’t trust the FED, they’ll look at it in there own good time while needy people are dying. Americans need leaders, not wellfare niggers.
I have cancer and need a cure but I fear it will not happen in my lifetime
@Rosemary Rooyakkers – It has, and it always will. Please take this knowledge and share it –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjhT9282-Tw
With love and light,
Denton
Have you tried it on yourself?
I am very intersted and Im looking forward to ge information about proving…
Please let me know if its fake or not. If you have cancer that you can try it!
Thanx a lot
my husband has lung cancer, mast to brain, has had chemo and radiation. Where can I get this product and is it safe for him to take?
hi lucy, as long as there is hope there is life. First of all search in google for the alan holman and cancer. He has books you have to read about cancer. MANDATORY. I am not a doctor, nor a biologist but i can tell that chemo therapy is not the best way to deal with cancer. The book is called ‘ the handbook for cancer patients’ at page 64 you see a possible diet. Must take is resveratrol, also colloidal silver, vitamine D3, and the essential oils. I would personally begin to smoke cannabis espesiacally the working ingredient, cannabinoids. it kills cancer. And have a look at THEFORMULATION.COM . They have a great supplement to boost the immune system.
About that ingredient you search for. I do not know. But i do know that your american health system will do anything to prevent this ingredient will gain popularity. Why? Cancer is BIG business. You probably paid yourself to death for these traits. I hope your man gets well. More i cannot do…
I hope this is a valid research as i might pursue it in my fellowship
We easily point fingers at government, conveniently forgetting we have a congress that’s BOUGHT by big Pharma. That’s why we don’t hear about simple cures like this one. No big Pharma money to be made.
There are a few cures for cancer;
I like Jethro Kloss’s vegetable juice diet.
Breuss has the same cure – coldpressed vegetable juice, particularly beetroot.
Arnold Ehrett has a brill detox diet – walking and grape juice.
Ehrett’s idea (and mine) is that the body is like a sponge, but we’ve saturated it with gunk (flour) , removed with slightly acidic juice.
Typically, says Ehrett, in the western diet, 45 % of what we eat conteracts bad effects another 45 % of what we eat. The body will repair itself if given the opportunity, as in a fast.
Kloss says that cancers need protein to survive – you can starve them. The body can withstand chemo/radiotherapy better than cancers.
I would recommend solids of fruit and vegetables, or smoothies, and various juices, water, and juice fasts. take up swimming or walking to speed the process up. swimming is much better.
Get in touch if you have a question.
dichloroacetate is found in the waxey skin of beans – substitute meat with beans, and better still, make a bean juice combination.
If this is true then this is shocking!
Wecome to our ‘reality’, have a look at other topics. This is just one of them.
I love websites like this. IT is a place where stupid worthless people can go to feel outraged. Becuase somehow that gives you all a reason to live.
This article does not surprise me. What surprises me is what they are trying to sell us concerning why they won;t pay attention to the fact they have found a cure! The answer is quite simple, it is money! Sick and dying people make the pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars each and every year! This is why they will not pay attention to this!
I have had breast cancer twice since 2002, I live in New Zealand
Something killed my pituaratury gland, i have extensive pain,
Smoking pot? Should I’m very tired, our system is so different
That i am worried we are so behind others countries. So now i have
Diabetes insipidus, on top of secondary re occurrences. Is it true
The injection, depo provea and the pill causes cáncer, they then
Took my ovaries out, and crash course in menopause at 40.
I had cáncer at 30. What can i do? Nothing is working for me.
Randy, “welfare niggers”? Learn to spell, then learn to make cogent and relevant comments.
This is based on research from 2007. There has been a small clinical trial since then. You should always be sceptical of “a cure for cancer” – that’s not what the researchers called it. And the idea of a conspiracy is silly. Quite a lot of research has been and is being done on this compound.
http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2010/05/12/potential-cancer-drug-dca-tested-in-early-trials/
These claims are entirely FALSE. Please check sources and research before making outlandish claims.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/dichloroacetate_and_cancer.php
Randy , you my friend are an idiot! Jus’ sayin’
The original article was published in 07′. Anyone see anything a little more current about this?
This is a fake thread. Please stop posting here. This is all a hoax! The source site does not exist, this author or poster is a troll misleading people. Please post your scientific source for backing of your EXTREMELY hard to believe story!
So now mitochondria are a “type of cell”? A sixth grader knows better then you.
Sorry folks, but this story is from 2007. Yes, scientists at the University of Alberta found that in lab trials, dichloro-acetate effectively killed cancer, but in trials on human cancer sufferers, the results were somewhat different.
Read articles here:
Original Report:
http://www.dca.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Updates/2007-03-15_Update.cfm
New Scientist reports on the hysteria that followed this article:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10971-cheap-safe-drug-kills-most-cancers.html
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/05/cure-for-cancer-resurfaces-and.html
To cite medical research without a peer-reviewed publication is laughable if it weren’t dangerously ignorant. Also, FYI people: any chemical that kills cancer cells more than normal cells is called chemotherapy. So, this article is describing a chemotherapy.
Wow this is pretty exciting news, but it is an incredible shame that even curing cancer is commercialized to such extent that huge pharma companies can dictate which drugs (even if effective) enter the market…
@njpoetess thanks for addressing the silly comment by @randy
Actually a bit misleading. DCA is not the be all end all, one size fits all cure that some are trying to make it out to be. DCA definitely has some interesting, maybe even exciting potential in the battle of some cancers. I say cancers as in plural because there are many different types and in some clinical trials ( such as in the case of Colorectal cancer) they find that DCA actually enhances cancer growth..not soo good. Here’s a link to wikipedia’s input on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloroacetic_acid
The world is watching and there is a big enough spotlight on it that if it will work, it will get used. Yes money talks but there is no conspiracy to hide this and if it really will help it will get approval for the cancers it does seem to help with.
I’m truly sorry to the people who are currently suffering from any form of cancer.
I have one question to those those who demonize the medical industry or the FDA. How would you react if this drug was touted as the silver bullet for cancer and then it turned out that it was far more damaging, killing more people than it saved.
It seems like a double standard to hate on an organization for “taking a long time for proper clinical trials” while also demanding that heads roll when a tragedy happens due to a lack of enough clinical trials. Yes, people are suffering because we can’t cure cancer but would you be the one to release an improperly tested drug into the populous when you don’t know if it will kill more than it cures?
Cancer is no laughing matter and there are thousands upon thousands of dedicated researchers working on the problem of cancer. The earliest record of cancer dates back to 1500 bce; we have been working on it for a LONG time. If there is a cure, we had best be absolutely sure that it’s the real deal and not another of the countless frauds, unsubstantiated claims, or pseudo-scientific woo.
Needless to say, I would love for this to be real and we should be open-minded, but not not so open minded that our brains fall out. If you want to learn about the history of cancer, pick up a copy of “The Emperor of All Maladies”. It’s an amazing and riveting book.
Um Mitochondria aren’t cells (maybe at one time they were prokaryotic cells), they’re organelles that are inside of Eukaryotic cells.
That was a very confusing article, it definitely needs to be edited. Glycolysis is a metabolic pathway that occurs even in the presence of functional mitochondria. Without some glycolysis (and oxygen as the graphic notes) the mitochondria is useless. What the article is missing is the fact that without oxygen, the lactic acid fermentation process begins after glycolysis instead of oxidative phosphorylation (which occurs in the mitochondria). The citric acid cycle is dependent on acetyl-Coa (a biproduct of glyoclysis in the form of decarboxylated pyruvate). Without the Citrix acid cycle NADH wouldn’t be produced in large enough quantities and oxadative phosphorylation would not occur. Both the citric acid cycle and oxadative phosphorylation occur IN the mitochondria. What I think they’re trying to say is dichloralacetate must initiate the citric acid cycle regardless if oxygen is present. I’d be interested in the source of this information to determine the researcher’s proposed mechanism for this mechanism
I’d like to point out that either this article or the research mentioned is laughably inaccurate— the number of basic, high school biology level errors is incredible. First of all, mitochondria are not cells. That’s actually 7th grade biology, not quite high school level, but I’m willing to assume that was simply a little typo and not complete ignorance. Ignoring that, there’s the issue that glycolysis A. does not produce lactic acid, and B. is not an optional pathway for respiration— all cells undergoing respiration, aerobic or anaerobic, use glycolysis. What this article refers to would seem to be lactic fermentation, which occurs naturally as an alternative to the Krebs Cycle when oxygen is absent— e.g. during intense/extended periods of exercise. I’m not prepared to call the research completely false, but I can definitely say that whoever wrote this article was either very careless or had no idea what they were talking about.
It’s a bit EARLY for an April Fool’s joke…conspiracy?….LMFAO….and the accurate use of medical terminology is certainly wanting here.
Moving on and letting the nay-sayers, conspiracy theorists hold hands and sing, Kumbaya
A well presented article on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloroacetic_acid
Always have hope,it what keeps humanity alive. The truth is out there now. Never give up. Bring the light onto the truth,it will save lives.
Really poorly written article. Not only is it taking something that’s still in the research stage and completely sensationalizing it (Check out the University of Alberta’s Website), but whoever wrote this never passed high school biology. Mitochondria are not cells, they are organelles that exist within cells. My heart goes out to anyone who has this disease. Keeping these people in mind, if you are going to talk about something as serious as cancer, then talk about it seriously.
Royal Rife cured cancer 60 years ago and many other things then his lab was burnt to the ground, his asst. started disappearing cause pharmaceutical companies can’t make money off it look him up Google search Royal Rife
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/cancercure.asp
Actually… the report from the canadian Scientist is old, it´s from 2007, but for some reason it has been just resported.
http://www.dca.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Updates/2007-03-15_Update.cfm
They DO not claim to cure the cancer. Cancer is not a single disease but the name of a family of diseases, each one requires diferent treatments.
This is a preliminary report from 2008:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18423823
dichloroacetate is not a magical drug, it has been used for some time and also has problems:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16476929
And this is the current status, no miracles, but studies need to continue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUZn_KnN28w
Firstly, the links you provided to the website were outdated. When the website IS consulted, the last update is from early in 2010 when it was announced that clinical trials are underway.
http://www.dca.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Updates/
Secondly, just because something appears to work in the Petrie dish doesn’t mean that it will work on humans. This is why three days after a possible breakthrough is announced you can’t line up for the cure.
There is no conspiracy to prevent people with cancer from access to a cure. To claim that does a disservice to every researcher who works tirelessly in an effort to find a cure. The fact is that they, themselves, have a vested interest in a cure… Not monetary, but in knowing they have provided a cure, possibly for their own loved ones or even themselves.
I have friends and family who have died or fought and won and I would love to see the cure but a cure may still be years off. That’s just how it is. But to claim that those responsible for thd research into an effective and safe cure are somehow complicit in keeping a cure from those with cancer or who will develop cancer is disgusting.
i just found that cancer has a cure how about h.i.v.?
Pretty sure pseudo science like this is what killed Steve Jobs. Be ashamed for spreading ignorance and false hope for a profit, you small and greedy people.
If you read he results of the study, the researchers claim that further study and clinical trials are needed before declaring this treatment safe. It also states at higher dosages patients suffered nerve malfunction including numbness of fingers and toes.
Actually.. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/05/cure-for-cancer-resurfaces-and.html
As A chemistry grad I would first like to ask for the report and what peer reviewed journal it was in ? If you can answer that then this is bogus
Folks,
There is no “Silver Bullet” for the disease condition known as cancer. There is some truth to this article in that cancerous cells are cells for which the process of apoptosis is defective. “cancer” is the proliferation of genetically-defective cells which continue to reproduce because the God-given mechanism which should cause them to die and be eliminated as waste (apoptosis) is broken. It IS a trooth that there are natural, effective treatments for this condition. For example, one will find that in Germany, the plant-chemical (phytochemical) Serenoa from the Saw Palmetto plant is used in the treatment of enlarged prostate which is a precursor to prostate cancer. In the U.S. a patient with this condition would be prescribed the drug “proscar” or some similar chemical.
Please use only clinically-tested and proven information for your health choices. Don’t use wikipedia, which may be edited by anyone including Kermit the Frog, and isn’t scientific. Many other countries place strong emphasis on peer-review of natural chemicals and their health benefits. Use website such as the National Library of Medicine at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and other such sites. If the scientific language is confusing, (it can be), then look for basic keywords like “saw palmetto” to research.
Lastly, one’s health is his or her own responsibility. There is a reason why many areas of the 3rd World have little or no cancers. Obesity is a killer. Red meat is a precursor to cancer. This is scientifically established fact and not conjecture. Search for the seminar “phytochemicals and human health” given at Texas A&M University and you will find many of the beneficial effects of plant-chemicals (as opposed to plant-based, which are synthetic and not natural). If most people treated their cars as they treat their bodies, they would have to walk everywhere. Yet, it is almost never too late to start on a road to health.
Like you I wish this was true, but unfortunately it’s a hoax, here is the info you need.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/cancercure.asp
A German doctor got the Nobel prize for Medicin in the 1930′s for finding out that cancerous cells need acidity to grow. We eat all this acidic food – starting with soda, meats…… our bodies have become acidic. If we change it to alkaline, cancer cells have no chance. Raw vegetables and fruits are alkaline, but check out the Japanese KANGEN water, an ionized alkaline water, loaded with antioxidants, that will easily bring your body back to its original alkalinity and health. It is that simple. No medication, no side effects, plus your body gets hydrated. I drink 2 liters a day for the past 2 years, feels great.
Why would anybody be surprised that the pharmaceutical industry et al is not actually interested in a cure, imagine all the phenomenal income hat would dry up!!!
Look up Burzinski. He has had a 20 year battle with the FDA over his cures for incurable cancer. A real doctor with a real organization working with him, there is a documentary on his research and legal battles. The FDA ended up stealing over 11 of his patents while trying to discredit and shut him down. He ended up before congress.