alexanderschrenk

I am a chemicist and write my promotion about alternative anti tumor
drugs. Of special interest for me is the mushroom Coguemo do Sol and
limonene, resp. ots metabolite perillic alcohol. I would like to
change my experiences with this drugs with other people, who are
interested in this. AlexanderSchrenk@lycos.de

steph

Let's see.........
"New amazing natural alternative anti-cancer drugs"
Not new
Not amazing
Natural, true, but then so is taxol and vincristine
Not anti-cancer
Not alternative, because it's no alternative if it doesn't work
I guess they are drugs, though

roger

They are anti-cancer in the same way statins are. They block cancer cells
from receiving chemical signals that result in bad things happening.
Another name for these substances are isoprenoids. When isoprenoids are
used in certain combinations, their anti-cancer effects are synergistic.

Here's an abstract that gives evidence of their potent anti-cancer
properties:

-----

Cancer Lett. 1995 Sep 4;96(1):15-21.

Chemotherapy of pancreatic cancer with the monoterpene perillyl alcohol.

Stark MJ, Burke YD, McKinzie JH, Ayoubi AS, Crowell PL.
Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
46202-5132, USA.

Perillyl alcohol has antitumor activity against rat mammary and liver
cancer. Here, we report the chemothe****utic effects of perillyl alcohol on
pancreatic cancer. Perillyl alcohol reduced the growth of hamster pancreatic
tumors to less than half that of controls (P < 0.025). Moreover, 16% of
perillyl alcohol-treated pancreatic tumors completely regressed whereas no
control tumors regressed (P < 0.05). Perillyl alcohol induced contact
inhibition in cultured human pancreatic carcinoma cells and inhibited their
anchorage-independent growth (P < 0.001). Thus, perillyl alcohol has
antitumor activity against pancreatic carcinomas at non-toxic doses, and may
be an effective chemothe****utic agent for human pancreatic cancer.

-----

I've done a fair amount of research on them and if I had cancer, I would
most definitely use them. Some of them are synergistic with statins in
their anti-cancer effects.

Here's a link to 129 abstracts discussing their anti-cancer properties:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Display&dopt=pub
med_pubmed&from_uid=8886131 Roger

steph

Sorry, I meant to say that there was no evidence that they work in real
humans in the real world........

There are many substances which have a theoretical basis for belief in some
benefit. And many of them have absolutely no benefit.

roger

This trial with real humans showed benefit to some.

-----

Clin Cancer Res. 2000 Feb;6(2):390-6.

Phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of perillyl alcohol administered
four times a day.

Ripple GH, Gould MN, Arzoomanian RZ, Alberti D, Feierabend C, Simon K,
Binger K, Tutsch KD, Pomplun M, Wahamaki A, Marnocha R, Wilding G, Bailey
HH.

University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, Developmental
The****utics Program, Madison 53792, USA.

We conducted a phase I dose-escalation trial of perillyl alcohol (POH; NSC
641066) given p.o. on a continuous four times a day basis to characterize
the maximum tolerated dose, toxicities, pharmacokinetic profile, and
antitumor activity. Six**** evaluable patients with advanced refractory
malignancies were treated at the following doses: level 1 (L1), 800
mg/m2/dose; L2, 1200 mg/m2/dose; L3, 1600 mg/m2/dose. POH was formulated in
soft gelatin capsules containing 250 mg of POH and 250 mg of soybean oil.
The predominant toxicities seen were gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting,
satiety, and eructation), which were dose limiting. There appeared to be a
dose-dependent increase in levels of the two main metabolites, perillic acid
and dihydroperillic acid. No significant differences were seen whether the
drug was taken with or without food. There was a trend toward decreasing
metabolite levels on day 29 compared with days 1 and 2. Peak metabolite
levels were seen 1-3 h post ingestion. Metabolite half-lives were
approximately 2 h. Approximately 9% of the total dose was recovered in the
urine in the first 24 h, the majority as perillic acid. Evidence of
antitumor activity was seen in a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer
who has an ongoing near-complete response of > 2 years duration. Several
other patients were on study for > or = 6 months with stable disease. The
maximum tolerated dose of POH given continuously four times a day was 1200
mg/m2/dose. Gastrointestinal toxicity was dose limiting, although
significant interpatient variability in drug tolerance was seen.

steph

It wasn't a "trial", it was a study, and it's absolutely impossible to claim
that anyone benefited, as you should know.

down

Oh, alcohol kills tumor cells thats for sure.. And its fun trying to get
the body's OH-level up to the concentration used to kill the tumor cells
in the petri dish...


--
madiba

orac

Actually, the vast majority of them have absolutely no benefit. Long is
the list of substances that had a reasonable-sounding theoretical basis
for working but either didn't work or were too toxic when in animal
models or clinical trials.

--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"

orac

Do you know what a Phase I trial is?

The primary purpose of a Phase I trial is not to show efficacy or
benefit or even anti-cancer activity. The purpose of a Phase I trial is
to determine safety, dosage levels, and pharmacokinetics in humans.
There usually is no control group in a Phase I trial.

--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"

roger

Call it what you want but the point is people did benefit according to the
authors by writing the following, "Evidence of antitumor activity was seen
in a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer who has an ongoing
near-complete response of > 2 years duration. Several
other patients were on study for > or = 6 months with stable disease."
People with metastatic colon cancer don't have a near-complete response of >
2 years for no reason as you should know. The only reason this would occur
is because of the therapy the person was on in this trial as the authors
note by writing, "Evidence of antitumor activity."