possible cure for cancer?

[STIX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7y9PO-qAoQ

[Irish]

This story is amazing and frustrating at the same time. I was in contact with Dr. Michelakis office about a year ago in regards to needed funding for the clinical trials of the drug Dichloroacetate. I had secured funding from a non medical source as the drug companies would not touch it because the patent had expired. However everything came to an abrupt halt with no explanation as to why. I have not heard from his office since.

[questionmark]

This story is amazing and frustrating at the same time. I was in contact with Dr. Michelakis office about a year ago in regards to needed funding for the clinical trials of the drug Dichloroacetate. I had secured funding from a non medical source as the drug companies would not touch it because the patent had expired. However everything came to an abrupt halt with no explanation as to why. I have not heard from his office since.

hmmmm... could it be that it is due the hasty move of Dr. Michelakis to the Cayman Islands?

[GreyWeather]

Reason it's not used is due to its side effects.

Taken from wiki, yeah yeah I know...;

Reports in the lay press after the 2007 University of Alberta announcement claim that dichloroacetate "has actually been used safely in humans for decades",[32] but the limited scholarly literature suggests side effects of pain, numbness and gait disturbances in some patients.[32] A clinical trial where DCA was given to patients of MELAS (a form of genetically inherited lactic acidosis) at 25 mg/kg/day was ended prematurely due to excessive peripheral nerve toxicity.[33] Dichloroacetate can also have anxiolytic or sedative effects.[4]

Animal studies suggest that the neuropathy and neurotoxicity during chronic dichloroacetate treatment may be partly due to depletion of thiamine, and thiamine supplementation in rats reduced these effects.[34] However, more recent studies in humans suggest that peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect during chronic DCA treatment, even with coadministration of oral thiamine.[35][36] An additional study reported that 50 mg/kg/day DCA treatment resulted in unsteady gait and lethargy in two patients, with symptoms occurring after one month for one patient and two months for the second. Gait disturbance and consciousness were recovered with cessation of DCA, however sensory nerve action potentials did not recover in one month.[37]

Studies of the trichloroethylene (TCE) metabolites dichloroacetic acid (DCA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and chloral hydrate suggest that both DCA and TCA are involved in TCE-induced liver tumorigenesis and that many DCA effects are consistent with conditions that increase the risk of liver cancer in humans.

Wiki.

Edit: Missed a space.

Edited March 27, 2008 by Chokmah

[Irish]

hmmmm... could it be that it is due the hasty move of Dr. Michelakis to the Cayman Islands?

I had not heard of that! can you verify that for me?

Edited March 28, 2008 by Irish

[Torgo]

Yay media over-sensationalization!!

That being said, research should continue as this substance appears to have some promise as a novel cancer treatment.

From what I can tell from the research I've done, this chemical helps reverse some of the mitochondrial damage associated with tumor cells and thus helps restore the cell-suicide pathway, which requires the involvement of these organelles. It is a plausible mechanism. The loss of the cell suicide pathway is one of the many mutations required for a cell to become cancerous; however this pathway can be subverted in ways not involving the mitochondrion itself and so if this drug does show promise in studies it most likely would not work in all cases.

Cancer is a somatic genetic disease in which cells lose control of the cell cycle and proliferate unccotrollably. I am very skeptical of any treatment idea that uses a simple chemical that only goes after cancer cells and does not do anything to normal rapidly dividing cells. While what I've seen from the online research I've done seems to indicate that it shows promise as an additional treatment and works on one common contributer to malignancy, it cannot address ALL the myriad underlying causes.

There will never be a "cure" for cancer. There will only be increasingly effective treatments. Cancer is a bit of a catch-all term for ANYTHING that goes wrong to cause uncontrollable cell proliferation. Many things can slow this down and treatments are often effective but there will always be cells that for one reason or another don't respond to the treatment you throw at them. I say, keep on the research and make sure it actually works clinically.

Edited March 28, 2008 by Torgo

[therion24]

its really sad the way people are only into money and not into helping others.

[poleshift]

Alkaline foods build and heal the body, and also neutralize the harmful acids produced by the acid-forming foods. (excess acids form excess mucus, causing all forms of internal congestion and a medium for bacterial growth and disease)

Ragnar Berg's Nutritive Value Tables

http://www.bodyzonesdirect.com/food_value.html

Alkaline and Acid Food Charts

http://www.crohns.net/Miva/education/acid_...ine_foods.shtml

[Radian]

I don't mean to put a damper on things.. but, I don't trust govt. If we did have a cure for cancer they'd (mine would if not already) would do everything under the sun to stop it from being accessed to people.. problem? the problem is there is too much money circulating thru out the medical industry.. it keeps our system running here... keeps it functioning.. if a cure was found (and i do believe there is already) it would destroy our economy.. Gov.t wont have it.

[MusicIsLife]

I don't mean to put a damper on things.. but, I don't trust govt. If we did have a cure for cancer they'd (mine would if not already) would do everything under the sun to stop it from being accessed to people.. problem? the problem is there is too much money circulating thru out the medical industry.. it keeps our system running here... keeps it functioning.. if a cure was found (and i do believe there is already) it would destroy our economy.. Gov.t wont have it.

It's sad how the government values money over human lives. I don't know if I can allow myself to trust such a clip yet. I am going to do my own little research on the drug.

[gigs]

I agree with you 100% Shankpin . My Dad died of Cancer .

[Mattshark]

I don't mean to put a damper on things.. but, I don't trust govt. If we did have a cure for cancer they'd (mine would if not already) would do everything under the sun to stop it from being accessed to people.. problem? the problem is there is too much money circulating thru out the medical industry.. it keeps our system running here... keeps it functioning.. if a cure was found (and i do believe there is already) it would destroy our economy.. Gov.t wont have it.

Correspondingly it would be a great thing for countries with public health care systems and some medical companies are based in those countries. No all drug companies are American, a great deal are not.

Actually my place of work has a biomedical lab and is working on isolating and reproducing a hormone produced in nurse sharks that specifically kills cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

[Ketzer]

I'll really laugh if the cure for cancer was something so stupid all this time.

Like, tomatoes.

You put some tomato juice on the cancer and it's gone.

You know how sometimes you search way too much, and the answer was right in your face all this time?

[Mattshark]

I'll really laugh if the cure for cancer was something so stupid all this time.

Like, tomatoes.

You put some tomato juice on the cancer and it's gone.

You know how sometimes you search way too much, and the answer was right in your face all this time?

It is not tomatoes, however fruit can help prevent the formation of cancer.

We just not have as well evolved immune systems as some other animals.

[sensitivetyper]

It is not tomatoes, however fruit can help prevent the formation of cancer.

We just not have as well evolved immune systems as some other animals.

this is my opinion only. the bible tells us what foods to eat and what foods not to eat in a very simple foremat. of all the people with cancer i have encounterd they ALWAYS ate what god said not to and didn't eat what god said to. i think the big lie is that not eating pork is a jewish thing when in fact it pertains to you if you are simply human. so i'm with the tomato theory..... i've lost several loved ones to cancer , and i wish i knew then what i know now.

[Mattshark]

this is my opinion only. the bible tells us what foods to eat and what foods not to eat in a very simple foremat. of all the people with cancer i have encounterd they ALWAYS ate what god said not to and didn't eat what god said to. i think the big lie is that not eating pork is a jewish thing when in fact it pertains to you if you are simply human. so i'm with the tomato theory..... i've lost several loved ones to cancer , and i wish i knew then what i know now.

There are many causes of cancer. Radiation from space, retroviruses or just the cell reproduction process going a little astray.

I had lymphoma which was likely caused by a retrovirus.

It is nothing to do with religion or eating. Pork a perfectly good thing to eat. Especially since domestic pigs are not a natural animal (as domestic sheep and cattle and chickens are not) they are born out selective breeding.

[poleshift]

so i'm with the tomato theory..... i've lost several loved ones to cancer , and i wish i knew then what i know now.

Have the same feeling. Wish they got figs, sea weeds, algae etc. to cure their cancer.

[NightWyvern]

careful,a cure for cancer is what lead the people in I am legend to become nasty cannibals XD

[BiffSplitkins]

Actually my place of work has a biomedical lab and is working on isolating and reproducing a hormone produced in nurse sharks that specifically kills cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

Somehow I actually believe that this is where the cure for cancer will be found. It's one of the strongest gut feelings that I've ever had in my life.

[sensitivetyper]

There are many causes of cancer. Radiation from space, retroviruses or just the cell reproduction process going a little astray.

I had lymphoma which was likely caused by a retrovirus.

It is nothing to do with religion or eating. Pork a perfectly good thing to eat. Especially since domestic pigs are not a natural animal (as domestic sheep and cattle and chickens are not) they are born out selective breeding.

Look , I may be way out in left field , it is just a personal theory .

-But a good idea is a good idea no matter who it comes from . i googled "foods of the bible" seven years ago and was astounded by how many of those foods i ate . so i stopped figuring there may be a possibilty god knows what he is talking about and i think i need to point out again , it aint religious , it has to do if you are human or not period .

-that and i haven't had so much as a cold since is why i'm sharing .

[Mattshark]

Look , I may be way out in left field , it is just a personal theory .

-But a good idea is a good idea no matter who it comes from . i googled "foods of the bible" seven years ago and was astounded by how many of those foods i ate . so i stopped figuring there may be a possibilty god knows what he is talking about and i think i need to point out again , it aint religious , it has to do if you are human or not period .

-that and i haven't had so much as a cold since is why i'm sharing .

Its ok, just that this is a scientific section. I have no problem with religious beliefs, I just don't think they belong in a science section.

But unfortunately diet can not affect T-Lymphoma virus. However Chemotherapy worked very well.

[Mattshark]

Somehow I actually believe that this is where the cure for cancer will be found. It's one of the strongest gut feelings that I've ever had in my life.

After seeing the results of the chemical when not isolated I too think this is where it is coming from.

[The Maharaja]

After seeing the results of the chemical when not isolated I too think this is where it is coming from.

Whats the chemical called this is truely fascinating

[Mattshark]

Whats the chemical called this is truely fascinating

Part of the problem is they do not know yet.

But here is an article on it. Mote Cancer Research.

[hornofhawthorn]

something like this - assuming DCA really is a "cure" - would have helped so many family members of mine. cancer runs rampid in our genetic line.