Discussions: More On Dichloroacetate (DCA) In Cancer Treatment

Blogger's Note: background - the debates surrounding DCA include some opinions that because the drug is readily available and cheap, the role for cancer integration (manufacturing/pharma) is the reason there have been no advances in DCA research; the U of Alberta seems to be one exception (included in the discussion/s)

More On Dichloroacetate (DCA) In Cancer Treatment

Dr Len's Blog: More On Dichloroacetate (DCA) In Cancer Treatment including comments

More On Dichloroacetate (DCA) In Cancer Treatment

Science blogger deflates sensationalism of "Scientists cure cancer, but no one takes notice" story - Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog

"....So we have one popular account that is badly written and makes exaggerated claims. There is also a university press release, the source for the sloppy popular account, that doesn't contain the egregious stupidities but does tend to inflate basic research studies into an unwarranted clinical significance. And then, of course, there are the actual peer reviewed papers that describe the research and rationale, and also the reservations, on DCA. It's like a game of telephone: you can actually trace the account from the sober science paper to the enthusiastic press release to the web account with its extravagant claims of a simple, cheap cure for cancer, and see how the story is gradually corrupted. It would be funny if the final result wasn't going to dupe a lot of desperate people.

But there is a germ of truth to the story, in that DCA does have potential.
...
We should be urging further investigation of this promising drug with the beginning of clinical trials, but it's far too early to be babbling about "cancer cures". There have been lots of drugs that look great in the lab and have excellent rationales for why they should work, but the reality of cancer is that it is complicated and diverse and there are many more pitfalls between a drug that poisons cancer cells in a petri dish and a drug that actually works well in the more complex environment of a human being."

Predicting longevity and curing cancer — quackery, or mere exaggeration? > Facts & Fears > ACSH (re: DCA)

.....In another example of scientific distortion at least bordering on quackery that has infiltrated the media, a Fox News LiveScience blog chastises big pharma for their alleged reluctance to engage in cancer research involving a chemical known as dichloroacetate (DCA), due to their inability to patent it, thereby eliminating the profit motive. The piece chronicles the work of Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a cancer researcher at the University of Alberta, whose claims that DCA can kill cancer cells are based solely on test tube experiments, animal testing and an extremely small clinical trial he conducted, which was composed of only five patients. Though even he admitted that “with the small number of treated participants in our study, no firm conclusions regarding DCA as a therapy…can be made,” he still attacks pharmaceutical companies for not investing in further research.

But not so fast. As Gary Schwitzer points out on his site, healthnewsreview.org, wherein he links to another blogger’s exposé of the DCA-conspiracy theory, the claims regarding DCA as an effective cancer treatment have been largely exaggerated: since there have been no clinical trials using the chemical, there is no basis for the researchers to allude to a cure.

And even if the claims were true, pharmaceutical companies actually could obtain protection via a “use patent.” This permits patent protection for old products (or drugs) where a new use has been discovered, explains ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom. “So this whole story is chock full of misinformation," he observes. "What is more likely is that Dr. Michelakis approached drug companies and they were just not interested.”...."

In vitro cytotoxicity of combinations of dichloroacetate (DCA) with anticancer platinum compounds

Note: in research, full paper is free to view - click on 'pdf'


Purpose: Dichloroacetate (DCA) inhibits pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK), and thus promotes glucose oxidation over glycolysis and induces apoptotic death of tumor cells. The present study investigated the potential of DCA to increase the antitumor effects of platinum-based compounds against a panel of permanent cell lines, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC), ovarian cancer, and Ewing’s sarcoma in vitro.

Methods: DCA at a concentration of 10 mM was combined with cisplatin, carboplatin, satraplatin, the satraplatin metabolite JM118, oxaliplatin, oxoplatin, and picoplatin, and the cytotoxic activity was evaluated in proliferation tests employing a panel of different cell lines. Additionally, cells were pretreated with DCA and then exposed to the platinum drugs and etoposide, or incubated with cisplatin or etoposide followed by application of DCA, respectively.

Results: DCA 10 mM significantly increased the cytotoxicity of the platinum-based drugs carboplatin, satraplatin, JM118, and oxoplatin, but not cisplatin, picoplatin, and oxaliplatin in vitro. Preincubation of cell lines with DCA 10 mM for three days reduced the antiproliferative activity of platinum-based agents in sequential application, but exposure of cells pretreated with cisplatin or etoposide to DCA resulted in minor sensitization. The inhibitory effect of DCA showed no correlation with sensitization to the platinum compounds.

Conclusion: DCA alone in a concentration that shows low antiproliferative activity is capable of increasing the cytotoxicity of selected platinum compounds upon coincubation, and such combinations may be interesting for clinical application in tumors like SCLC, Ewing’s sarcoma, and ovarian cancer refractory to cisplatin chemotherapy as standard care. The mechanism of this synergistic effect of DCA in combination with specific platinum species remains to be investigated.

Top Cancer Doctors to speak at upcoming Power is Teal Conference - Dr's Coleman, Goff, Seiden, Armstrong (OCNA/Washington)

Power is Teal Conference
July 10 - July 13, 2010
Washington, DC
www.ovariancancer.org/conference/2010

 

 

CONFERENCE AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS:

Saturday, July 10

Ovarian Cancer 101

presented by Dr. Robert Coleman of MD Anderson Cancer Center

 

Sunday, July 11

Research Updates Part I

presented by Dr. Barbara Goff of the University of Washington, School of Medicine

How Healthcare Reform Affects this Community

presented by Tim Westmoreland, Esq., Visiting Professor, Georgetown University School of Law

 

Monday, July 12

Research Update Part II: Mello-Abrams Lectureship Accelerating Ovarian Cancer Research: Recent Victories, Current Opportunities, Future Challenges

presented by Dr. Michael Seiden, President and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center

Recurrence

presented by Dr. Deborah Armstrong of Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

 

To view the full Power is Teal Conference agenda and to register, visit www.ovariancancer.org/conference/2010.

Man sold fake cancer drug over the internet - DCA media item

"The (web)site (now closed down)claimed the powder was the experimental cancer drug sodium dichloroacetate (DCA)

(DCA) Simple, cheap drug holds cancer treatment promise - CTV News

Note: this is an issue discussed widely in the recent past (inexpensive/profit/lack of)