DCA trials and availability update
DCA trials and availability update Hi. The petition to no. 10 has so far 186 names.
Meanwhile, DCA is now available online… for dogs and cats! for trial use against cancer. Check out www.buydca.com
Hopefully such use and availability will shame some self-respecting govt. or chemical co. into going ahead with the the human trials we need and maybe it will help to staunch the flow of womens lives lost to breast cancer.
No doubt, groups of patients or individuals may obtain the chemical and find sympathetic doctors (or vets??) to try this out when all else has failed. Sadly it’s unlikely they will record their results so others will be none the wiser until serious scientifically controlled trials are performed.
Wishing Good Health and Energy to everyone who reads this.
Jenny
Jenny 186 names is perishing pathetic. Amazed that there are so few br ca victims who are interested in research- shortsighted to put it mildly. dilly
Just wondering Jenny what DCA is, and why do u need a petition?
Best wishes
Angela
Hi Jenny
That does seem like a low amount. Several people I know put the name to the petition, but when I looked on there, the names were not registered.
Sarah
Well, I would be happier with more general funding DCA probably will enter into trials in Canada in the spring:
“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.”
The problem with lobbying just for DCA is that it is too focussed. The Alberta trials could flop (as is often the case in cancer research). What we need is a petition to get the government to get off its backside when it comes to clinical trials, particularly off patent drugs, and not leave so much to charitable groups like Cancer Research UK (fine organisation though it is).
So, I have sent them money. I’ll sign the petition when DCA looks like a surer thing.
By the way, the University of Alberta experts strongly recommend that people not self medicate with DCA.
I don’t think that they will mind me quoting them:
depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/
"Can I find and use DCA on my own?
Absolutely not! This can actually be dangerous. For example, DCA can be found in stores selling chemicals to scientific laboratories. Often, DCA is sold in a form that is very acidic and if consumed could cause serious or catastrophic complications. Even for use in animals DCA often has to be processed with chemicals to correct its acidity etc. In addition, the dose in patients with cancer, or its interactions with other medications that cancer patients might be on, are completely unknown.
Often, patients with terminal cancer might feel they are in a desperate situation and might be “willing to try anything. It needs to be remembered that the inappropriate use of these drugs might cause catastrophic complications and make the situation even worse. In addition, if complications occur, because this was not done under the supervision of a physician, this problem will not become known and other patients might be exposed to a risk that could have been prevented. "
Thanks Christine and info for Angela I think Christine’s analysis is very sound. Apparently only about 5% of drugs which look like they might be effective from use in test tubes and on rats turn out to be effective in real cancer patients. I have signed the Downign Street petition though this is a drop in the ocean…there are thousands of petitions with many more signatures than this one and govt/. won’t ake notice of anything which such tiny numbers (they don’t take notice of petitions with much much larger numbers!)
And Christine’s broader approach is much more sensible…frustrating as it perhaps feel.
Angela in answer to your question:
In January New Scientist reported on some laboratory research in Canada on an old drug called dichloroacetate (DCA). The drug is used to treat rare metabolic disorders. The research in Canada has found it kills human cancer cells in test tubes and drastically reduces tumours in rats. There is a case now for human trials of the drug (which because it is already used in people could be shorter than the usual lead in for human drug trials) but the drug is out of patent and so there’s no money for the pharmaceutical industry to carry out the research. If there is to be research it would have to be funded by charities, govenment or University research.
As Christine suggests follow the link to the University of Alberta website for their information on a prospective trial in Canada.
Jane
For jane Thanks Jane for the info. I will sign the Petition. I think the more research that can be done the better.
I have also signed the petition and passed the link on to friends and family in the hope that they will sign, too.
I wonder whether it may be worth copying the link to the other forums here, so that everyone gets to see it and understand that this is a vital research opportunity which really should not be missed.
Mel
DCA The DCA website has been updated to say that clinical trials are to begin this spring with efficacy and toxicity results expected later in the year. Even though so many test-tube hopefuls come to nothing, it does seem as though this research is moving pretty quickly, so at least we may hear some answers before too long…
Jenny.
I see Christine has already added this. Always read the small print.
Jenny.