VITAMINS CAN PREVENT STOMACH CANCER

It was a pleasant surprise to see the National Cancer Institute stating that vitamin C and beta-carotene may prevent stomach cancer. This was the conclusion of a randomized clinical trial carried out in the country of Colombia {J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:1881-1888}. More than 600 people at high risk of developing stomach cancer were given one gram of vitamin C twice per day; 30 milligrams of beta-carotene; an antibiotic to combat H. pylori infection (a known cause of some stomach cancers); a combination of these three treatments; or a placebo pill.

Scientists biopsied pre-cancerous growths in the stomachs of all the participants. Such abnormalities were four times as likely to shrink or disappear among those who received any of the three active treatments compared to placebo. Since stomach cancer is the second leading type of cancer around the globe, "an effective means of preventing the disease could have a dramatic impact on public health worldwide" -to quote the NCI. Notice that some participants received 2,000 milligrams per day of vitamin C, the same "megadoses" that just last year we were warned might cause tumors to grow explosively. In reality, they made these pre-cancerous stomach lesions shrink.

THE END OF ENDOSTATIN?

Nearly three years ago, the New York Times touted the wonders of the anti-angiogenesis drug Endostatin on its front page. Consequently, the stock of EntreMed, manufacturer of the drug, went through the roof. At the time, I wrote: "The hopes of millions of cancer patients have been raised, cruelly in my opinion. I deplore the cynical manipulation of the hopes and fears of cancer patients by self-interested individuals." Now, the first clinical results with Endostatin have been reported and they are underwhelming.

In November, researchers from three cities presented data from their Phase I clinical trial. In Boston, 19 patients with advanced disease were treated, but 12 had to be taken off the study due to disease progression, and 5 more withdrew voluntarily. That left 2 patients still receiving the treatment. The results in the two other locations were no better.

"Some patients benefited, but many did not," said one of the investigators. The best results were seen in a 50-year-old man with a cancer of the jaw, which shrank by 62 percent, and a patient with pancreatic cancer, whose tumor shrank by 19 percent. In five other cases, the disease appeared to stabilize for a while. Scientists pointed out that blood flow through the tumors had become "less robust" and that the chemicals involved in blood vessel creation had diminished as patients were given increasing doses of the drug.

Advocates tried to spin straw into gold. The results, they said, were "tremendously promising." The Washington Post gushed that "the findings...augur well for a more elaborate series of tests scheduled to begin next year." Imagine if complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) got the same kid gloves treatment from the media. Then, even minor responses would be covered favorably in the New York Times! Incidentally, Wall Street isn't buying. The stock of EntreMed has plunged to one-fifth of what it was in the heyday of Endostatin.

THE POWER OF HONEY

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:24

You may remember how in 1993 Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) declared that his life-long allergies had been cured by bee pollen. He was mocked in orthodox medical circles to the point that his re-election was in doubt. But now, new research confirms the surprising power of various bee products to promote health and even to combat cancer.

Take the field of laparoscopic surgery, a less invasive surgical technique for treating colon cancers. It can have a serious side effect: in rare cases, the tumor recurs in the tiny incision hole through which the surgeons pass their instruments.

Scientists at Istanbul University have now discovered how to prevent this from happening in experimental animals. In a study of 60 mice, published in the AMA's Archives of Surgery, Dr. Ismail Hamzaoglu and colleagues spread honey on tiny wounds and then injected the animals with cancer cells. All the control animals developed cancer, but only 8 of 30 honey-treated mice did so. The Turkish scientists suggest that honey could be used not just to stop tumor implantation but in other types of cancer surgery as well {Arch Surg 2000;135:1414-1417}.

A Mayo Clinic surgeon studying tumor implantation agreed that substances in honey might actually help dissolve tumor cells. "It's not clear what the power of honey is, but there's certainly something here that's of interest,'' she told reporters.

Back in 1990, Russian scientists showed that honey had "pronounced anti-metastatic effects" in five animal systems. It also increased the potency of standard chemotherapeutic drugs {Vopr Onkol 1990;36:704-9}.

There are also chemicals in propolis (a resinous material gathered by honey bees from buds and bark) that have anticancer properties. Dr. C. V. Rao of the American Health Foundation has established that caffeic acid esters, found in propolis, are potent inhibitors of colon cancer in rats {Cancer Res 1995;55:2310-5}. Another researcher at Rutgers University applied caffeic acids twice weekly to mice and reduced the size of their tumors by 74 percent {Carcinogenesis 1996;17:761-5}.

More recently, scientists discovered that honey prevents the growth of the harmful Streptococcus mutans bacteria in the saliva of patients with head and neck cancer. These patients often suffer from a lack of saliva after radiation therapy and are prone to mouth infections. But the bacteria count decreased significantly in the group that was given honey compared to the control group {J Oral Rehabil 2000;27:269-70}.

Pollen, propolis and honey may never make the stock market go wild. But they can do a world of good when used at the right time and place. As Tom Harkin told us!

HYDRAZINE SULFATE UNFAIRLY BLAMED FOR PATIENT'S DEATH

An internist at a small military hospital in South Carolina created a sensation in December 2000 when he claimed that the unconventional anticancer drug, hydrazine sulfate, caused massive liver and kidney damage in a patient with cancer. Mark I. Hainer, DO of the Moncrief Army Community Hospital in Fort Jackson, SC and colleagues reported on a man with maxillary sinus cancer who reputedly rejected all conventional treatment and medicated himself with hydrazine sulfate. He allegedly obtained the nonconventional drug over the Internet. The case was presented as a object lesson in what happens to people who shun their doctors' advice and medicate themselves for cancer.

The 55-year-old man developed a rash and discontinued hydrazine sulfate. Two weeks later he was admitted to the hospital with signs of kidney and liver failure and died after severe gastrointestinal hemorrhages. The authors concluded that "fatal hepatorenal failure may occur after the use of hydrazine sulfate." This complication "must be considered in anyone taking or contemplating the use of hydrazine sulfate," they warned.

What made the article bizarre was Dr. Hainer's admission that he had failed (1) to secure for analysis a sample of the substance the man was taking; or (2) even to test the man's blood for the presence of hydrazine sulfate. Hydrazine sulfate is readily detectable long after its use is discontinued through a standard assay {Proc Am Ass Cancer Res 1986;27:661}.

This patient may not have received hydrazine sulfate at all. The website from which he may have bought his medication claims that a synonym for hydrazine sulfate is "Procarbazine." This is outrageously wrong. Procarbazine is a chemotherapeutic agent most commonly used to treat lymphoma and brain tumors. It is somewhat similar in structure to hydrazine sulfate (both are MAO inhibitors), but unlike hydrazine sulfate has well-known toxicity, inhibiting DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. Procarbazine initially concentrates in the liver and kidneys and causes nausea, vomiting, anorexia, stomatitis, and is also carcinogenic.

By contrast, hydrazine sulfate has never been implicated in any serious toxic reactions, despite the fact that it has been carefully studied in several clinical trials. The toxic reactions Dr. Hainer describes are far more consistent with Procarbazine than with hydrazine sulfate…but we'll never know since he failed to test either the drug or the patient.

Hainer's startling charges come amidst the federal indictment of a major supplier of hydrazine sulfate, Ken Michaelis of St. Louisville, Ohio and his company, Holistic Alternatives, Inc. Mr. Michaelis faces years in prison and millions of dollars in fines for selling hydrazine sulfate (and laetrile). The indictment states that "illegal distribution of these products poses a risk to public health, not only because they have not been shown to be safe and effective, but also because they are often substituted for proven cancer treatments." This latest article is a godsend for the prosecution.

CAM MAKES PROGRESS AROUND THE COUNTRY

Some time ago, professional "quackbuster" opponents of CAM tried to use California as a beachhead from which to launch a nationwide assault on nonconventional cancer treatments. Because of public opposition, they failed, but California remains a legal backwater. It basically forbids any cancer treatment except the toxic triad of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Thus, it was significant that in late September a crack opened in orthodoxy's façade, when California's legislature passed and Gov. Gray Davis signed the CAM study law (SB 2100). SB 2100 will generate a legislative report that may then influence further legislation. In time, it should lead to the repeal of the repressive "anti-quackery" laws of a bygone era and slow the persecution of California doctors who use more innovative techniques.

In neighboring Nevada, the Board of Medical Examiners finalized new regulations that permit physicians licensed by the board to use CAM therapies. Nevada also has a homeopathic licensing board. In Ohio, a health freedom bill was also signed into law. Physicians there finally gained the freedom to use some nonconventional approaches. In Minnesota, freewheeling Gov. Jesse Ventura signed a similar bill into law. Unlicensed complementary health care practitioners now enjoy the freedom to practice and will be brought into a "circle of professional accountability," to quote from Monica Miller's excellent website, www.healthlobby.com. Slowly, some progress is being made.

HOW BIG IS BIG?

A front page headline in Oncology Times reads, "Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Big Survival Gain Adding Irinotecan to 5-FU/Leucovorin" (December, 2000). But the study itself tells a different story. In the arm that includes irinotecan (CPT-11), median overall survival was 14.8 months, compared to 12.6 months with the standard two-drug therapy {New Engl J Med 2000;343:905-914}. Thus, an addition of two months is now classified as a "big survival gain."

Not everyone agrees. In an editorial, Robert J. Mayer, MD of Harvard called the survival advantage "slight," and said that the new treatment "might possibly" represent a treatment advance. And in fact, the side effects (including severe diarrhea) remained troublesome. Even many oncologists feel there's got to be a better way!

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED

A large study of Finnish men has shown that those who express a high level of satisfaction with their lives are more likely to be alive 20 years later than those who were dissatisfied. (There was no such correlation for women, probably because they already have better coping skills.) Satisfaction includes the ability to form intimate relationships. Dissatisfied men are three times more likely to die of serious diseases, such as cancer. Men who drink heavily are even more likely to die, while once again we learn that moderate drinking extends life. Marriage, reasonable exercise, a good social status and the avoidance of smoking all proved to be life-extending {Am J Epidemiol 2000;152:983-91}. A word to the wise…

HELEN COLEY NAUTS

Finally, I note with sadness the passing in January of Helen Coley Nauts, daughter of the pioneering immunotherapist, William Coley, MD. For nearly 60 years Mrs. Nauts fought for recognition of her father's treatment, Coley's toxins, and for other innovative toxic approaches to cancer. She was the founder of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. With her meticulously researched monographs, speeches and voluminous correspondence, she rescued the immunological treatment of cancer from oblivion. I admired her tremendously and will miss her dynamic presence.

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