Cancer Decisions - Free Newsletter -September 9, 2007

DRUG SIDE EFFECTS - IS YOUR DOCTOR LISTENING?

According to a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, the number of reports of serious adverse events related to drug treatment has more than doubled in the past decade, rising from just under 35,000 in 1998 to almost 90,000 in 2005 (Moore 2007).

Similarly, the number of deaths recorded as directly attributable to drug treatment almost tripled in the same period.

The data were gathered from the Food and Drug Administration's adverse event reporting system, which relies solely on the voluntary submission of reports by US physicians or drug manufacturers. It is therefore highly probable that these figures, alarming though they are, represent a significant under-estimate of the extent of the problem. For example, another study, published last month in the journal Drug Safety, found that physicians very often downplay, dismiss or ignore their patients' reports of drug side effects (Golomb 2007).

The study focused on 650 patients who were taking statins to lower their cholesterol. Statins are well known to be associated with certain very specific side effects, including muscular aches and pains and (less often) "fuzzy" thinking, lapses in concentration or memory changes. The study's authors found that in almost 50 percent of cases, when patients complained of these specific issues, and asked if the problems they were experiencing could be related to the statins they were taking, physicians dismissed the possibility out of hand.

If physicians do not recognize a problem as being drug-related, they are very unlikely to report it to the FDA. Neither are they likely to be sufficiently watchful for signs of potentially serious or life-threatening drug-induced adverse events.

In an interview with Reuters Health, the study's lead author is quoted as saying that patients whose doctors dismiss their concerns should probably look elsewhere for medical care. "In general, patients should always have physicians that they feel are hearing them," she said.

HERE AT THE MOSS REPORTS

This is particularly important for cancer patients, who must make decisions about their treatment quickly, and under great stress. The typical rushed doctor visit offers little opportunity to obtain the focused, relevant information that is essential for sound treatment choices.

Robbed of the opportunity to discuss their medical needs thoroughly with their physicians, people often turn to the Internet for answers. Certainly, the Internet has unlocked the medical libraries and made vast quantities of formerly unavailable medical literature accessible to everyone. But it has also opened the door to an abundance of unreliable information, often couched in pseudo-scientific language, whose concealed purpose is to sell the unwary a product or service that is essentially worthless. Without the necessary background in the life sciences, it can be extremely hard to discern the fallacies in the sales talk or make sense of journal articles and technical literature.

For thirty years I have been studying cancer and its treatment, monitoring emerging research and writing about new approaches to cancer in the fields of both conventional and alternative medicine. The Moss Reports are the distillation of my long involvement with the field of cancer. I have now compiled more than 250 of these comprehensive reports, each one focusing on a different type of cancer. The reports document the most promising available treatment options, both conventional and alternative. They also provide a detailed discussion of the rationale behind these treatment approaches and offer an objective analysis of the expected success rate, drawbacks and alternatives.

If you would like to order a Moss Report for yourself or someone you love, you can do so from our Web site, www.cancerdecisions.com, or by calling 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US).

PHONE CONSULTATIONS

I also offer phone consultations to clients who have purchased a Moss Report. A phone consultation can be enormously helpful in drawing up an effective treatment strategy and getting one's options clearly prioritized.

A recent phone consultation client wrote:

"After being blindsided with a rare and deadly form of cancer, my husband and I quickly engaged family and friends to help us obtain information from the Internet. But it seemed like the more we knew, the less we knew what to do. It was overwhelming. It was then that we downloaded Dr. Moss's report. The report provided in-depth information in an understandable, organized form. It discussed treatments used by both Western medical doctors and complementary/alternative providers, complete with names, locations, and telephone numbers. We felt more able to make a decision about what treatment to choose.

"We arranged for a telephone consultation with Dr. Moss to see if he would confirm the plan we had in mind and to see if there was anything we might have missed. The man is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to cancer! We are now comfortable with what we'll be doing, and we also know that we have a fallback option if this one doesn't work out for us. So many of our friends know people who are dealing with cancer or who are raw from having been recently diagnosed with it. We don't hesitate to provide them with the link to Dr. Moss's website, and we tell them how wonderfully helpful his report and phone consultation were." - L.G.

To schedule a phone consultation, please call 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US) or send an email to Jacquie@cancerdecisions.com.

We look forward to helping you.

CURRENT TOPICS

Also available from our Web site are our Current Topics reports - a series of in-depth reviews of important cancer-related subjects and controversies. Currently available are the following:

On Guard - Gardasil (A discussion of the anti-cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil)
Do Antioxidants and Chemotherapy Conflict?
Mammography, Biopsy and the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
Herceptin or Deceptin? (An evaluation of the use of Herceptin in breast cancer)
Avastin: Your Money Or Your Life. (A clear-eyed look at the targeted drug Avastin)
The Politics of Hope: Andrew von Eschenbach and the Decline of the National Cancer Institute
The Mexican Cancer Clinics in the Era of Evidence-Based Medicine

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MUSCADINE GRAPES INHIBIT PROSTATE CANCER CELLS

"We have discovered...grapes of such greatness, yet wild, as France, Spain, nor Italy hath no greater..." So spoke Governor Ralph Lane in a 1585 letter to Sir Walter Raleigh. He was describing the muscadine, a slip-skin variety of grape that grows in abundance in the southern half of the United States. In fact, one of the "mother vines" discovered by Walter Raleigh's settlers is still alive on Roanoke Island: it has a trunk 2 feet thick and covers half an acre of ground.

Interestingly, muscadine grape skin extract (abbreviated MSKE) does not contain significant amounts of resveratrol, a better known grape skin component which has been shown to prevent the growth of prostate cancer cell cultures. However, just this month, an extract of muscadine grape skins was shown to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells in a National Cancer Institute (NCI) laboratory. The results were published in the September 1, 2007, issue of the journal Cancer Research.

The team of researchers, led by Jeffrey E. Green, showed that MSKE significantly inhibited the growth of cancerous prostate cells, while leaving normal prostate cells unaffected. It did so via apoptosis, or programmed cell death. By contrast, resveratrol seems to work by blocking the cell cycle, which is the sequence of steps that a cell moves through as it grows and divides. It is thought that both mechanisms are normally used by the body in an attempt to rid itself of cancer.

According to Dr. Green, "These results show that MSKE may have potent anti-tumor activities in the lab that differ from the effects of resveratrol. Further studies of MSKE will be necessary to determine if this extract has potential as a chemopreventive or therapeutic agent."

One interesting fact is that the scientists tested MSKE in cells that represent the various stages of prostate cancer tumor growth. All stages responded to MSKE, suggesting that the active compounds found in this muscadine extract could inhibit tumor development even at very early stages.

The Noble Muscadine

Muscadine grapes (or Vitis rotundifolia) are a wild grape that has not been subjected to extensive breeding. In March 2007, an experiment by Dr. J.M God and colleagues at Clemson University in South Carolina showed that four extracts of muscadine "pomace" left over after wine production contained powerful antioxidants. Each of the extracts showed significant inhibition of mutagens as well as the ability to curb the activity of destructive enzymes involved in the invasiveness of cancer. "These extracts could be good inhibitors of carcinogenesis," said Dr. God.

But muscadine differs from the red grapes typically used to produce red wine, which is a major source of resveratrol. Muscadine grapes are richer in naturally occurring chemicals called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins, which are the pigments that give red and purple grapes their color, have strong antioxidant activity and have also been shown to inhibit DNA synthesis in breast cancer cells, block blood vessel growth in tumors, and curb the activity of enzymes involved in tumor spread.

Muscadine grape skins also contain ellagic acid, malic acid; magnesium, potassium and fiber. According to a report by Penelope Perkins-Veazy of the US Department of Agriculture, "The oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) of muscadines was found to be very high." On an ounce-by-ounce basis, in fact, muscadine grape juice is said to have about twice the ORAC value of its nearest common competitor, pomegranate juice (www.muscadinenaturals.com).

The researchers now hope that the in vitro effects of MSKE can be reproduced in testing on both cancerous and normal prostate cells in animals. Clinical trials, theoretically, could follow, but since the US Food and Drug Administration has never yet approved a natural agent for treating cancer I would not hold my breath.

According to Green, since "muscadine grape products, including grape juice and grape wine, have been used in human studies without reported side effects, they may be relatively safe for use in clinical trials."

What is to stop consumers from trying muscadine juice or skin extracts right now? Very little. They are usually found growing wild from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico and westward from Missouri to Texas. More conveniently, some companies are already producing muscadine-related products for sale. Various Internet-based companies sell muscadine wine, juice, cider, sauce and syrup, jelly and preserves, hot sauce and of course muscadine skin extracts. One site will even sell you for $26 a 16 ounce bottle of muscadine scent, guaranteed to be "strong and musky."

I have seen both white and red muscadine juice and wine for sale. I would stick with the red kind, which has more of the desirable anthocyanins.

Interestingly, red muscadine wine may be even more healthful than muscadine juice. In a clinical experiment at North Carolina State University, published in the journal Nutrition in November 2006, muscadine wine had even greater health benefits than the equivalent juice. Diabetics given muscadine wine had lower levels of blood glucose, insulin, and glycated hemoglobin. Their vitamin C and E blood levels were elevated, indicating improved antioxidant status. They had greater membrane fluidity and lower sodium and chlorine values, which would contribute to better blood pressure scores. They also had lower liver enzyme scores, indicating improved liver function and insulin sensitivity. In all, researchers said, a daily intake of 150 milliliters (five ounces) of muscadine wine, even in a de-alcoholized form, improved diabetics' metabolic responses compared to diabetics who were given the non-fermented, and more sugary, muscadine juice.

Some Resources

There are many companies selling muscadine products on the Internet.

Muscadine Products Corporation describes itself as the world's first producer of phytochemically-rich muscadine grape nutraceuticals and juice. They sell various products on Ebay, such as purple muscadine grape juice, juice cider, Purple Power grape skin powder, etc.

For gardeners there are muscadine grape vines: www.willisorchards.com has almost a dozen varieties to choose from, as well as some of the related scuppernong grapes. I would go with one of the very dark or black varieties of muscadine. They will grow in Zone 6 or higher.

Muscadine grape seed extracts: Many health food stores carry these, although bear in mind that the experiments above were mainly carried out with muscadine skin extracts, not seeds.

Muscadinenaturals.com has a variety of muscadine products.

Crockett Creek offers several dark varieties of muscadine juice:
http://ecommerce.lcs.net/stores/crockettcreekbeefjerky/
merchant.ihtml?pid=2147&lastcatid=432&step=4

Another red muscadline grape juice:
http://naturespearlproducts.com/catalog.asp?catid=9

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

References:

Banini AE, Boyd LC, Allen JC, Allen HG, Sauls DL. Muscadine grape products intake, diet and blood constituents of non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic subjects. Nutrition. 2006;22:1137-1145.

God JM, Tate P, Larcom LL. Anticancer effects of four varieties of muscadine grape. J Med Food. 2007;10:54-59.

Golomb BA, McGraw JJ, Evans MA. Physician response to patient reports of adverse drug effects: implications for patient-targeted adverse effect surveillance. Drug Saf. 2007;30(8):669-75.

Hudson TS, Hartle DK, Kursting SD, et al. Inhibition of Prostate Cancer Growth by Muscadine Grape Skin Extract and Resveratrol through Distinct Mechanisms. Cancer Res. 2007;67:8396-8405.

Moore TJ, Cohen MR, Furberg CD. Serious adverse drug events reported to the food and drug administration, 1998-2005. Arch Intern Med 2007;167(16):1752-9

ORAC value:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=14436

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

The news and other items in this newsletter are intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.