Alternative Cancer Therapy Protocol

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This protocol profiles many (but not all) prominent cancer clinics staffed by individuals who are considered to be capable of piloting an alternative attack against cancer. Descriptions are detailed in the hope that patients may find physical, emotional, and geographic links with a particular clinic or natural therapy.

When describing the various complimentary cancer clinics, it is not possible to endorse one treatment or physician over another. We have provided as much evidence as space allows to assist patients and their physicians in the evaluation of what approach may be suited for the individual situation.

A great deal of effort has been made to identify therapies that have some substantiation in the published scientific literature and provide the cancer patient with the opportunity to experiment with cutting edge treatment strategies. The focus of our effort has been to identify potential life-saving therapies that are not part of mainstream oncology.

The Life Extension Foundation can assume no responsibility for treatment or outcome, apart from a self-assigned duty to stay abreast of the most promising of therapies and to share the data with members. No warranties (expressed or implied) accompany the material; neither is the information intended to replace medical advice. As always, each reader is urged to consult professional help for medical problems, especially those involving cancer. All clinics are listed alphabetically and not in order of importance. Before choosing any alternative cancer clinic, we suggest logging on to a special website ( www.lefcancer.org ) to obtain updated positive or negative information about a particular clinic.

ALOE VERA, a Glyconutrient

Dr. H.R. McDaniel, M.D., an affiliate of Mannatech Inc., has spent 16 years exploring the therapeutic nature of Aloe vera. In 2000, McDaniel addressed Comprehensive Cancer Care, a conference highlighting the latest and most promising of current techniques converging upon cancer therapy. As a result of this appearance, Dr. McDaniel was invited (August 28, 2001) to present the glyconutrient principle before the Royal Society of Medicine (London, England) and the United Nations-sponsored 17th International Conference on Nutrition. The following material (excerpted from these presentations) should be viewed as part of an integrated approach to treat cancer, not as an independent therapy.

The virtues of the aloe plant (chronicled in the writings of Hippocrates) have evolved to include a strong anticancer connection. Russian scientists in 1986 established a respectable place in modern medicine for aloe when it was determined that aloe juice reduced tumor mass and the frequency of metastasis in rats. The Merck Manual added to its credits, recording that aloe protected individuals with weakened immune systems against infection. Random scientific papers, plus scores of anecdotal reports relating to cancer regressions, spurred a group of physicians and scientists to study the nature and role of carbohydrates in biological events; a science referred to as glycobiology emerged.

The active ingredients in aloe are eight chains of mannose sugars, (glucose, galactose, mannose, fructose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, and N-acetylneuraminic acid). Scientists determined that the eight sugars (super carbohydrates), frequently missing in the diet, are important to intercellular communication.

Glycoproteins (on the surface of every cell) serve as signals to tell other cells who they are and what they need. If the cells do not have enough of the right sugars, they cannot make the correct glycoproteins, and the cell-to-cell messages become garbled. Subsequently, the immune system cannot effectively wage an offensive against bacterial and viral pathogens or rapidly dividing cancer cells. The sugars of aloe ensure that internal networking (cell-to-cell communication) is swift and accurate.

Note: The reader should not confuse the natural sugars of Aloe vera with sucrose, that is, common table sugar. The sugars contained in glyconutrients are naturally occurring sugars (not sweet to the taste) that elicit no blood glucose rise or insulin rush.

A number of enzymes (endonucleases, hydrolases, esterases, and lipases) are produced from the sugars of aloe. Enzymatic reactions power up lymphocytes, small white blood cells (about a trillion in number) that bear the major responsibility of search and destroy missions. When white blood cells phagocytize (envelop and destroy) bacteria, virus, and cancer, enzymes produced on the mannose system optimize the cell's performance.

Aloe vera has an extraordinary antioxidant profile, with much of its advantage gained by increasing reduced glutathione levels. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals produced as a result of aggressive cancer treatments, as well as those produced naturally through biological events. For example, as the mitochondria produce energy to fuel cellular functions, a plethora of free radicals results. A cell deprived of reduced glutathione is unprotected and subject to free-radical damage (a precursor to cancer). Reduced glutathione can independently protect against free radicals or increase the efficiency of vitamin E (a lipid-soluble antioxidant), vitamin C (a water-soluble antioxidant), and superoxide dismutase (an enzyme that converts superoxide radicals into less toxic agents). Many patients are able to complete aggressive courses of chemotherapy (when aloe accompanies treatment) by intercepting a barrage of free-radical activity.

Dr. Glen Hyland, a Mayo-trained oncologist, reviewed the health histories of 100 cancer patients (extracted from a three-state analysis) who used glyconutrient therapy as a part of their cancer treatment. Dr. Highland marveled at the speed in which patients (receiving glyconutrients) experienced a reduction in the size of squamous cell carcinomas (lung) and oat cell carcinomas (usually originating in the bronchi or lungs). Numbers of the formed elements of the blood, that is, erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells), and thrombocytes (platelets) did not collapse when glyconutrients were a part of cytotoxic therapies. Dr. Hyland commented that normal cells appeared protected and abnormal cells appeared more sensitive to treatment, when Aloe vera was a part of an integrated approach.

Various cancer patients have experienced remarkable reversals in health status after adding aloe to their protocol. It was, in fact, triumphant accounts of Aloe vera enhancing the efficacy of previously failed treatments that spurred the glyconutrient movement. From the files of Dr. McDaniel, a few case studies have been extrapolated to illustrate the value of Aloe vera as an adjunct in cancer therapy.

A male (68 years old) presented the symptoms of obstructive urinary symptoms, elevated PSA, and more than 100 nodules of metastatic lesions in the lungs. Dreadfully ill and having failed other therapies, polymannose, a first-generation glyconutrient discovered in the early 1980s, was added to the protocol. After an additional year of conventional therapy (an effort that included Aloe vera), the lungs were cleared of nodules, energy levels rebounded, and quality of life returned. He appears quite healthy as he approaches the 10th anniversary of being told his condition was terminal.
A researcher, trained under a NIH cancer fellowship and hostile toward the carbohydrate/cancer theory, reluctantly entered into a trial to determine the value of glyconutrients in cancer treatment. Laboratory mice were injected with Norman's Sarcoma, a type of cancer carrying a 100% death rate; half of the test animals were also injected with 1 mg/kg of the glyconutrient polymannose. About 1 month into the trial, all control animals were dead; conversely, all animals receiving one injection of polymannose were alive, and at the 2-month interval, 40% had survived. Amazed with the results, the researcher repeated the test, but doubled the concentrations of the carcinogen. The end results were, nonetheless, the same. The odds improved even more when the therapeutic injections were increased: 52% were alive when receiving 1 injection a week, and 67% survived when the complete formula (all monosaccharides required for glycoprotein synthesis) was injected.
A 38-year-old breast cancer patient presented with 10 lytic skeletal bone lesions and a mass appearing on the neck. The patient also had liver involvement and ascites (an intraperitoneal accumulation of water and electrolytes) making her appear 8 months pregnant. Having failed earlier courses of chemotherapy, the treatment was repeated, but this time glyconutrients were a part of the protocol. At 1 year, the ascites had cleared, and no evidence of cancer was detected. She survived approximately 7 years after being advised by her oncologist that she had less than 6 months to live.
Reports of Aloe vera being life-saving to cancer patients are not scarce. Dr. Julian Whitaker reported that a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare brain tumor (a meningioma) went into total remission after drinking 8 oz of whole-leaf Aloe vera concentrate a day for 3 months. Because surgeons were unable to remove the entire tumor, its continued growth rendered an uncertain prognosis. At the time of the Whitaker report, the child was living a normal life and participating in sports but drinking Aloe vera juice every day (Whitaker 1995a).

The following animal trials are included to add additional strength to human studies. Acemannan, a polysaccharide (carbohydrate) isolated from aloe rind, was administered intraperitoneally and intralesionally to 43 dogs and cats with spontaneous tumors. Twenty-six of the animals showed histopathological evidence of immunological attack, evidenced by marked necrosis or lymphocytic infiltration. Twelve animals experienced obvious clinical improvement as assessed by tumor shrinkage, tumor necrosis, and prolonged survival (Harris et al. 1991).

Feline leukemia is a disease induced by an oncornavirus infection that inevitably causes death to clinically affected cats. It has been estimated that 40% of cats are dead within 4 weeks and 70% are dead within 8 weeks of the onset of symptoms. Administering acemannan for 6 weeks intraperitoneally to clinically symptomatic cats significantly improved quality of life and survival rates: 12 weeks after initiation of treatment, 71% of treated cats were alive and in good health. This study joins a medley of others, affirming Aloe vera's worth in veterinary settings (Sheets et al. 1991).

Oral administration of Aloe vera is remarkably safe. It is, in fact, difficult to kill laboratory animals to estimate lethal dose ranges.

Suggested dosage: Begin with 2 tsp of glyconutrient powder 3 or 4 times a day. Some find they must slowly increase the dosage to achieve maximum benefits.

Mannatech Aloe vera products may be purchased at (800) 287-8373 (without an account) and at (800) 281-4469 (with an account). Complete documents relating to the material presented are available from the Fisher Institute for Medical Research, helen@fisherinstitute.org , Fax: (972) 660-1245, or Telephone: (972) 660-1733). In addition, readers may be privy to information presented before the Royal Society of Medicine and the United Nations-sponsored 17th International Conference on Nutrition by purchasing tapes of Dr. McDaniel's Comprehensive Cancer Care 2000 lecture from the Conference Recording Service Inc. or by calling (800) 647-1110.

BINDWEED (an angiogenesis inhibitOR)

Patient Reports
The RECNAC team (CANCER spelled backwards) is located in Wichita, KS, at The Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning International. A breast cancer survivor of 14 years, who used the Center's approach to fight her disease, altered the name to counter the grim aura that frequently hovers over cancer. Dr. Hugh D. Riordan, RECNAC Project Director, says the key to finding successful treatments for cancer is identifying where to look and being willing to search in unusual places. Dr. Riordan emphasizes the importance of finding ways to nurture and soothe the spirit of the cancer patient as well as the body. The Center, referred to as the Bright Spot for Health, has welcomed thousands of people from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 40 foreign countries. A hopeful, confident clinical environment tends to assure patients and expedite recovery.

Impressive cancer research is emanating from the Midwest, more specifically Wichita and physician/researcher Hugh Riordan, M.D., and his corroborating team of scientists. The following narrative illustrates why many in the scientific community are excited about their work.

A survivor of ovarian cancer entered the clinic relaying a hopeful story concerning her recovery. Following diagnosis, the woman, concerned with orthodox therapies, independently sought an alternative treatment. The decision to look elsewhere was not difficult because the woman's mother had died 7 years earlier with the same disease and doctors felt the daughter's chances of survival equally bleak.

The woman traveled to Oklahoma where a shaman gave her a tincture of Bindweed (Convolulus arvensis) with instructions to use the substance daily. (Bindweed, a common garden weed, is a bane to farmers.) The woman testified that after using Bindweed for 1 year, her abdomen returned to a normal size. Asymptomatic, she returned to her physician, who after a battery of tests pronounced her cancer-free.

The Riordan team began assays to determine the beneficial properties of Bindweed. Its mode of operation was puzzling because it appeared ineffective at killing tumor cells and only modestly efficient at improving immune function. After nearly 4 years of searching, it was determined that Bindweed bestows its antitumor advantage by inhibiting angiogenesis, a process that restrains blood vessel formation. A healthy vascular system is a common property of malignant tissue. So important is the blood vessel network, tumor cells participate in their own survival by secreting cytokines that develop and sustain the vascular pipeline. A tumor is fatally handicapped without an adequate supply of blood vessels; robbed of its vascular system, the tumor starves and shrinks and, in some cases, completely disappears. It was determined that Bindweed was about 100 times more effective than shark cartilage (by weight) at inhibiting angiogenesis.

After identifying proteoglycan molecules (PGMs) as the antitumor property in Bindweed, the chicken egg chorio-allantoic membrane model was used to determine the extent of Bindweed's antiangiogenic activity. About 200 fertilized chicken eggs were prepared to allow a working surface inside the egg. Tumor cells were added that secrete cytokines, eliciting new blood vessel growth. The angiogenesis inhibiting substance was then added and the rate and degree of angiogenesis observed. Scientists concluded that proteoglycan molecules inhibited new blood vessels in a dose dependent manner, that is, results were 18%, 55%, and 73% inhibition at concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 mcg, respectively.

PGMs were then tested in animal models. B16 melanoma, LS180 (a colon adenocarcinoma), and Lewis Lung carcinoma all showed from 70%-99.5% inhibition of growth. The RECNAC team classed Bindweed as a pan- or all-tumor inhibitor, meaning it appears equally effective in inhibiting the progression of all tumors.

The RECNAC team found that when Bindweed was used with an immune stimulant, that is, a nontoxic purified extract of the bacterial cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria and beta 1, 3-glucan, the results were even more remarkable. The combination, referred to as a Muramyl Polysaccharide-Glycan Complex (MPGC), arouses the immune system in a fashion not unlike that observed when Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), inactivated tuberculosis germ, is used to combat cancer. The muramyl peptides are recognized by the immune system as belonging to a bacterial invader; subsequently, the immune system is activated, mustering a nonspecific attack against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and cancerous cells. To further increase the response, the peptides are linked to mannose-rich polysaccharides, which make it easier for the macrophages to gobble up the cell wall for identification and immune activation.

The macrophages are also sensitized to phosphatidylserine and muramic acid, both of which are found preferentially on tumor cells. In essence, the immune system becomes flagged with the identifiable characteristics of the cancer cells and like a "smart bomb," homes in on the target.

Muramyl peptides increase tumor destroying mechanisms and up-regulate monocyte cytokine genes (IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor, and IL-12). Although IL-12 is an immune stimulator, it is (pound for pound) one of the most potent angiogenesis inhibitors known.

Note: Proinflammatory cytokines are observed in a number of different cancers, even proving predictive of survival. This raises questions regarding safe usage of natural agents that elicit production of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

In a recent conversation with Neil Riordan, he explained that substances that potentiate both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines are comparable to listening to a full symphony as opposed to only a tuba. According to Dr. C.A. Dinarello (University of Colorado), most of our knowledge regarding proinflammatory cytokines (such as IL-1 or TNF) is derived from experiments in which humans or animals have been injected with either a single or a combination of inflammatory cytokines (Dinarello 1997). However, in models of inflammation where several cytokines are produced, specific blockade of either IL-1 or TNF (or both) results in a reduction in the severity of inflammation. This may explain the success various clinics enjoy when using agents that lift expression of many of the family of cytokines, both pro- and anti-inflammatory in nature. Please refer to the section entitled Proinflammatory Cytokines in the protocol on Cancer Treatment: The Critical Factors to learn about the role of cytokines in malignancies.

In addition, MPGC results in the maturation of immature dendritic cells. This is significant because immature dendritic cells initiate the immune response by engulfing abnormal cells. After identifying the foreign antigen, dendritic cells mature to present the information to T-cells to initiate the fight. Unfortunately, cancer cells possess a survival wit, that is, they can hide from the immune system by lacking identifiable antigens on their cell surfaces; the task becomes doubly difficult as some cancers can suppress dendritic cell maturation. Please consult the Cancer Vaccines protocol to learn how dendritic cells can be trained to identify cancer cells and gear up an attack. The other component of MPGC is beta 1,3-glucan (made from fungus cell walls). Beta 1,3-glucan is independently able to increase the activity of macrophage, potentiating detoxification, internal hygiene, and defense against abhorrent tissue.

Alternative Cancer Therapy Protocol Pg (1) (2) (3)

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