Dichloroacetate forum

Someone, apparently a Jeff Galloway from Alberta, has set up a forum for discussing dichloracetate (DCA) at dichloroacetate.org.

First dichloroacetate entrepreneur spotted

Some enterprising person or persons have set up a dichloroacetate portal and say that they will attempt to source a supply and then sell the drug online.

Personally, I would be extremely hesitant to take such a substance without the blessings of the medical profession, however I can understand, although not recommend, that some individuals, who perhaps have longer experience of disease, may feel they are at a stage when they have nothing to loose in taking such an option.

Dichloroacetate discussed on cancerfocus.net

An apparently independent cancer issues website called cancerfocus.net has followed up the recent dichloroacetate (DCA) interest with some further information and commentary.

The article concludes that there may be some cause for optimism in pursuing further research of the drug as an anti-cancer therapy, but that no long term studies have yet been done and that much remains to be demonstrated. It also speculates that the dose range at which the drug may be beneficial is likely to be quite narrow.

New Scientist publishes letter critical of dichloracetate article

The latest print edition New Scientist (February 2007) has published a letter from Ralph Moss of www.cancerdecisions.com.

Although the author says that New Scientist has done “a great service in bringing this information and perspective to the public“, it is also critical of the article as being too easily misinterpreted by desperate members of the public. The letter says that the article’s headline: “Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers” implies incorrectly that DCA is known to destroy actual tumors in humans, and thus has “generated waves of unwarranted expectation among many patients“.

The letter also points out that DCA is a by-product of the water chlorination process and it has shown to be carcinogenic in rodent models and has had other toxic effects in other animals. The letter does not seem to discount the possibility that some therapeutic use for DCA may yet be developed, but points out that it is by no means yet certain that this will ever eventuate.

Dichloroacetate profile paper

A paper that describes the drug dichloroacetate as it relates to the treatment of Huntingtons Disease is available from the Huntington Project website.

Dicholoroacetate information page

The Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta have set up an information page to report progress on developing dicholoroacetate (DCA) as an anti-cancer drug and they say that they are committed to performing clinical trials in the immediate future.

There is also an email list to receive notification of updates to the page (no RSS feed!?).

Science blog on dichloroacetate

Following the news regarding dichloroacetate and its ability to shrink tumors in test tubes and rats, some commentators have suggested that it will be difficult to fund clinical trials of the drug because of its non-patentable nature and alleged lack of profit potential.

These comments criticised by a blogger who apparently has some experience in cancer research and has also read the paper in Cancer Cell. He also says that although certainly promising the results would be less than likely to be as effective in clinical trials:

Those of us who’ve been in the cancer field a while know that all too common are drugs that kill tumors in the Petrie dish and in mice or rats but fail to be nearly as impressive when tested in humans.

More from Orac at Respectful Insolence with a number of reader comments.

Dichloroacetate kills cancer

New Scientist have published an article on Dichloroacetate and its newly discovered ability to regress various cancers.

Medical News Today also reports on the news saying that Small Molecule Offers Big Hope Against Cancer.

A Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the University of Alberta Department of Medicine, and his colleagues have published their findings in the journal Cancer Cell (DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2006.10.020)

The drug has been tested on human tissue in test tubes and in rats. It is an existing non-patented drug (and therefore cheap) and is already in use in to treat other diseases in humans and so is known to be relatively non-toxic in humans at some levels. The action of the drug is specific to cancerous tissue and does not damage healthy cells.

The University of Alberta also report the news on their news site. A number of television news reports are available for download at the medicine faculty’s web site.