DCA

There's a phase I clinical trial going on for a cheap, non-patentable compound called DCA (Dichloroacetic acid). It's easily administered (orally). The underlying mode of action is it seems to re-initiate apoptotic behavior in cancer cells, causing them to die.

• http://www.medicorcancer.com/DCAtherapy.html#safe
  Integrative Canadian clinic that uses DCA
   
• http://www.thestar.com/article/260026
  "The furor over DCA began with a paper published in the journal Cancer Cell in January about the potential of DCA to shrink tumours. The preliminary study sparked an online buying frenzy by desperate cancer patients who administered the unpatented drug themselves.

  A website set up by a California man to sell DCA, buydca.com, was shut down by the U.S. Federal Drug Agency in July, though the site thedcasite.com continues as a discussion forum.

  John read about the January study and told Khan about DCA. The doctor looked into the issue, checked out buydca.com and decided it would be safer if the drug was administered by a physician."

• http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2007/04_15/4_patients_prac...
  

  Despite the dangers, Californian biologist-cum-huckster Jim Tassano has started selling DCA on a website called BuyDCA.com. Although the site says it's only for veterinary use, a sister site, TheDCAsite.com, openly promotes its use in humans. "He's a pest exterminator with a biology degree who's hired a chemist and is profiting from desperate people," fumed Dr Michelakis in the Edmonton Sun. "He is bypassing every regulatory principle that exists to ensure pharmaceuticals are safe and selling hope for money. It's horribly unethical."

  Mr Tassano, who sells DCA for 90 cents a gram, denies he's in it for the money, saying he got involved because he wanted to save his terminally ill ballroom dance instructor's life.

  TheDCAsite.com features a message board where patients recount their experiences taking DCA (sadly, most have been negative — see "A physician's DCA experiment" below). "That's the worst nightmare in medicine, to start making judgments on whether a drug is good or bad based on what any patient will post on a blog," said Dr Michelakis in the Edmonton Journal. "This is the death of medicine and organized research as we know it."
   

• http://www.cancer.org/aspx/blog/Comments.aspx?id=130
  "I was diagnosised with intestinal lymphoma on 26 Dec 06, and received traditional chemotherapy until it was clear my abdominal mass had grown 3X its size. Without response to treatment the doctors stopped chemo, and gave me two weeks. My housemate (owner) researched and found the UofAlberta info, bought DCA in Feb (buyDCA.com) and the mass is now essentially gone. Only caveat, decrease doseage with tumor size reduction; don't continue to base dose solely on mg/Kg"
  
  "My father-in-law has been left with no other options. The cancer centre in Calgary has stated to him that there is no possibility for surgery, chemo or radiation. The way this was interpreted was go away and die. ...... (continued) MY FATHER-IN-LAW IS PATIENT 21 IN A DCA TRIAL. He currently feels better than before the trial. This may be short lived, however hopefully his bravery can help his situation or at least further the advance of the potential cure. His spirits are high. This causes his quality of life to be better."
  
  "For everyone wondering if the DCA is working, well for some the answer is YES. Go to http://www.thedcasite.com/Bile_duct_cancer.html or the home page and read about peoples expirience in using DCA on themselves."
   
• http://clinicaltrial.gov/ct2/show/NCT00566410?term=Dichloroacetic+acid&r...
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloroacetic_acid
• http://www.thedcasite.com/dca_how_it_works.html
• http://www.thedcasite.com/dcaforum/DCForumID1/79.html
• http://efhell.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/dca-cancer-research-dichloroacetate/
• http://www.cancer.org/aspx/blog/Comments.aspx?id=130
• http://www.uncommondescent.com/biology/watch-the-edmonton-news-report-of...
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7292652.stm
  Harvard Medical School identified an enzyme which enables cancer cells to consume the huge quantities of glucose they need to fuel uncontrolled growth. .... However, Dr Peak said a drug called DCA which is thought to act on the relevant pathway was currently undergoing tests