Experimental cancer treatment

Experimental cancer treatments are medical therapies intended or claimed to treat cancer (see also tumor) without the disadvantages of the standard therapies:

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation therapy

The entries listed below vary between theoretical therapies and treatments that will most likely become standard procedures within the next few years. Many of these treatments will only help against specific forms of cancer. It is not a list of treatments widely available at hospitals!

Table of contents 1 Angiostatic-based treatments 2 Bacterial treatments 3 Diet Therapy 4 Insulin Potentiation Therapy 5 Fasting Therapy 6 Gene therapy

Angiostatic-based treatments

Every solid tumor (in contrast to liquid tumors like leukemia) needs to generate blood vessels to keep it alive once it reaches a certain size. Usually, blood vessels are not built elsewhere in an adult body unless tissue repair is actively in process. The anti-angiogenesis (angiostatic) agent endostatin[?] and related chemicals can suppress the building of blood vessels, preventing the cancer from growing indefinitely. In tests with patients, the tumor became inactive and stayed that way even after the endostatin treatment was finished. The treatment has very few side effects but appears to have very limited selectivity. Other angiostatic agents are being actively investigated.

Bacterial treatments

Chemotherapeutic drugs have a hard time penetrating tumors to kill them at their core because these cells may be dead or lack a good blood supply. Researchers have been using anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium novyi, to consume the interior of oxygen-poor tumours. These should then die when they come in contact with the tumour's oxygenated sides, meaning they would be harmless to the rest of the body. A major problem has been that bacteria don't consume all parts of the cancerous tissue. However combining the therapy with chemotheraputic treatments has largely proven to solve this problem.

Diet Therapy

Thirty years of clinical experimentation by Dr. Max Gerson[?] led to a successful therapy for advanced cancer. It is a high potassium, low sodium (saltless) diet, with no fats or oils, and high in fresh raw fruits and vegetables. See for instance the lecture [1] (http://gerson-research.org/docs/GersonM-1978-1/), and the book A Cancer Therapy, by Max Gerson M.D. ([2] (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0961152621/)).

Insulin Potentiation Therapy

In insulin potentiation therapy, low-dose insulin is given in conjunction with low-dose chemotherapy. It is claimed to be effective while dramatically reducing side effects.

Fasting Therapy

For whatever reason, long-term fasting has been known to work against cancerous tumours. Studies to date are merely anecdotal.

Gene therapy