Guest guest Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 My two previous posts regarding DCA are for academic interests only and to gather more information. I do **NOT** recommend anyone to attempt to use DCA in any way, shape or form for personal treatment or anything else. DCA a dangerous substance! > > http://www.depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/ > > UPDATE March 15, 2007 > The University of Alberta Discovery > > DCA is an odourless, colourless, inexpensive, relatively non-toxic, > small molecule. And researchers at the University of Alberta believe > it may soon be used as an effective treatment for many forms of cancer. > > Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the U of A Department of > Medicine, has shown that dichloroacetate (DCA) causes regression in > several cancers, including lung, breast, and brain tumors. > > Michelakis and his colleagues, including post-doctoral fellow Dr. > Sebastian Bonnet, have published the results of their research in the > journal Cancer Cell. > > Scientists and doctors have used DCA for decades to treat children > with inborn errors of metabolism due to mitochondrial diseases. > Mitochondria, the energy producing units in cells, have been connected > with cancer since the 1930s, when researchers first noticed that these > organelles dysfunction when cancer is present. > > Until recently, researchers believed that cancer-affected mitochondria > are permanently damaged and that this damage is the result, not the > cause, of the cancer. But Michelakis, a cardiologist, questioned this > belief and began testing DCA, which activates a critical mitochondrial > enzyme, as a way to " revive " cancer-affected mitochondria. > > The results astounded him. > > Michelakis and his colleagues found that DCA normalized the > mitochondrial function in many cancers, showing that their function > was actively suppressed by the cancer but was not permanently damaged > by it. > > More importantly, they found that the normalization of mitochondrial > function resulted in a significant decrease in tumor growth both in > test tubes and in animal models. Also, they noted that DCA, unlike > most currently used chemotherapies, did not have any effects on > normal, non-cancerous tissues. > > " I think DCA can be selective for cancer because it attacks a > fundamental process in cancer development that is unique to cancer > cells, " Michelakis said. " One of the really exciting things about this > compound is that it might be able to treat many different forms of > cancer " . > > Another encouraging thing about DCA is that, being so small, it is > easily absorbed in the body, and, after oral intake, it can reach > areas in the body that other drugs cannot, making it possible to treat > brain cancers, for example. > > Also, because DCA has been used in both healthy people and sick > patients with mitochondrial diseases, researchers already know that it > is a relatively non-toxic molecule that can be immediately tested > patients with cancer. > > " The results are intriguing because they point to the critical role > that mitochondria play: they impart a unique trait to cancer cells > that can be exploited for cancer therapy " > Dario Alteri > Director University of Massachusetts Cancer Center > > Investing in Research > > The DCA compound is not patented and not owned by any pharmaceutical > company, and, therefore, would likely be an inexpensive drug to > administer, says Michelakis, the Canada Research Chair in Pulmonary > Hypertension and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program with > Capital Health, one of Canada's largest health authorities. > > However, as DCA is not patented, Michelakis is concerned that it may > be difficult to find funding from private investors to test DCA in > clinical trials. He is grateful for the support he has already > received from publicly funded agencies, such as the Canadian > Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), and he is hopeful such support > will continue and allow him to conduct clinical trials of DCA on > cancer patients. > > Michelakis' research is currently funded by the CIHR, the Canada > Foundation for Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs program, and the > Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. > > " This preliminary research is encouraging and offers hope to thousands > of Canadians and all others around the world who are afflicted by > cancer, as it accelerates our understanding of and action around > targeted cancer treatments, " said Dr. Philip Branton, Scientific > Director of the CIHR Institute of Cancer. > > DCA and Cancer Patients > > The University of Alberta's DCA Research Team is set to launch > clinical trials on humans in the spring of 2007 pending government > approval. Knowing that thousands of cancer patients die weekly while > waiting for a cure, Dr. Michelakis and his team are working at > accelerated speed, condensing research that usually takes years into > months. Fundraisers at the University of Alberta are determined to > raise the money to allow this next phase of research to begin. Once > Health Canada grants formal approval, the University of Alberta's > Research Team will begin testing DCA on patients living with cancer. > Results with regards to the safety and efficacy of treatment should be > known late this year. > > " If there were a magic bullet, though, it might be something like > dichloroacetate, or DCA… " > Newsweek, January 23, 2007 > > UPDATE January 23, 2007 - Investigators at the University of Alberta > have recently reported that a drug previously used in humans for the > treatment of rare disorders of metabolism is also able to cause tumor > regression in a number of human cancers growing in animals. This drug, > dichloroacetate (DCA), appears to suppress the growth of cancer cells > without affecting normal cells, suggesting that it might not have the > dramatic side effects of standard chemotherapies. > > At this point, the University of Alberta, the Alberta Cancer Board and > Capital Health do not condone or advise the use of dichloroacetate > (DCA) in human beings for the treatment of cancer since no human > beings have gone through clinical trials using DCA to treat cancer. > However, the University of Alberta and the Alberta Cancer Board are > committed to performing clinical trials in the immediate future in > consultation with regulatory agencies such as Health Canada. We > believe that because DCA has been used on human beings in Phase 1 and > Phase 2 trials of metabolic diseases, the cancer clinical trials > timeline for our research will be much shorter than usual. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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