April 28, 2024

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First metabolic anti-cancer drug: Cancer treatment by DCA

First metabolic anti-cancer drug: Cancer treatment by DCA (Dichloroacetate)

 

 

First metabolic anti-cancer drug: Cancer treatment by DCA (Dichloroacetate).   Dichloroacetate DCA Anti-cancer Guide: The first metabolic anticancer drug discovered. 

 

(This article is very detailed and just for refenece only)

DCA can be said to be the first metabolic anticancer drug discovered. It has low toxicity, relatively cheap, broad-spectrum anti-cancer, and can alleviate the effects of excessive lactic acid caused by advanced cancer.

Edmonton Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have shown that cheap and relatively non-toxic generic drugs may be the most deadly potential treatment for all human cancers: a type of glioblastoma Brain cancer.

A multidisciplinary team led by professors of medicine Evangelos Michelakis and Kenn Petruk in the School of Medicine and Dentistry has published evidence that the compound dichloroacetate (DCA) affects the growth of glioblastoma tumors.

These findings were published in the May 12th issue of “Science Translational Medicine”, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As there is currently no effective treatment for this type of cancer, the results are encouraging. Michelakis said that this work is the first research in humans to support the new idea of ​​changing tumor metabolism, which is a new direction to change cancer metabolism. DCA is a cheap drug that contains dichloroacetic acid, which is a very small, simple molecule, similar to vinegar.

It is mainly used to treat children with rare metabolic disorders. In 2007, Michelangelo and his team published evidence that DCA reversed cancer growth in non-human models by altering the metabolism of cancer. The drug tricks cancer cells into normal energy production by changing the way it processes nutrient fuels. This causes cancer cells to commit suicide without damaging healthy cells. Many researchers around the world have confirmed the findings of the University of Alberta team in 2007. Often, promising research in non-human models will not work outside the laboratory.


However, members of the U team are now reporting the success of the next phase of their DCA research, which tested DCA compounds in humans. Glioblastomas were extracted from 49 patients over a period of two years and studied within minutes of resection in the operating room. The research team confirmed that the tumors respond to DCA by changing their metabolism. The researchers then treated 5 patients with advanced glioblastoma. They obtained tumor tissue before and after DCA treatment. After comparing the two samples, they confirmed that the DCA works in the same way as predicted in the previous test tube experiment.

The unique property of DCA is that it changes the metabolism of glioblastoma stem cells, which are considered to cause cancer recurrence. DCA is taken orally. Mixed with water, DCA is easily absorbed, so it can reach all parts of the body. Typical results show that it takes three months for DCA to reach blood levels sufficient to change tumor metabolism. In the 18-month study, some of the tumors in the five patients either shrank in size or stopped growing. There are no obvious adverse effects. Higher doses of the drug can cause some neurological disorders, such as numbness in the fingers and toes.

Researchers from the American Medical Research Group also found that DCA treatment is most effective when used in combination with chemotherapy. What makes this work unique is that it is actually generously funded by the public. A few years ago, when the original research surfaced, private donations began to flood in. Usually, the pharmaceutical industry provides funding for clinical trials, which is very expensive. However, no pharmaceutical company owns the rights to DCA compounds.

Michelakis and his team are working hard to secure more funding to continue the ongoing DCA clinical trial. Their next phase of research will include more brain cancer patients and patients from other academic health science centers. The researchers plan to test DCA in combination with standard chemotherapy. They also hope to expand the scope of the study to patients with breast and lung cancer. The U research team emphasized the limitations of drawing conclusions from five patients. More clinical trials must be done with DCA.

As the name suggests, DCA is an abbreviation for dichloroacetic acid or dichloroacetate. It has a long history in medicine and can help treat a series of metabolic diseases (ie, mitochondrial genetic diseases) in children and adults for decades. In other medical fields (such as exercise, COPD, heart failure, etc.), more relaxed research has also been conducted. Because it is a relatively simple chemical, it is considered a relatively cheap medicine. In addition, due to its simplicity and low cost, most pharmaceutical companies do not pay much attention to its use, because it generates more limited money or profits than drugs that are patentable or have intellectual property (IP). . safe.

 

 

 

 


DCA has been extensively discussed, researched and used in alternative cancer treatments and academic circles. In this article,the author does not intend to merge all the extensive research on DCA. Instead,  the author will briefly introduce the most relevant points that knowing and need to consider these points when using DCA as an anti-cancer drug. Next to this post, you can find a lot of relevant discussions about the use of DCA on the following website: 

  • http://www.thedcasite.com 

DCA is a white powder and is the salt version of dichloroacetic acid. Outside the field of oncology, DCA is a drug that has been known for decades and has been considered to be useful for the treatment of lactic acidosis

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6877297/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12856382/

DCA as an anti-diabetic and lipid-lowering drug

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/625308/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/625308/, has the potential to treat these diseases and myocardial and cerebrovascular ischemia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9398096/

Although the potential of DCA is already known, after the publication of a major publication from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, scientists came to the following conclusion: The potential of DCA in oncology has only recently begun to receive attention: clinical rationale Support the rapid conversion of this promising metabolic regulator in clinical trials of early-stage cancer.

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222789
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18766181

 

Due to its mechanism of action, dca has been found to have a good effect in most cancers.

Breast cancer

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25212175 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031302516337011
  • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X17309786

Colon cancer and colorectal cancer

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27803917
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24892448
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18465755?dopt=Summary “

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26593251

Oral squamous cell carcinoma

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359228/

Glioblastoma

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25652202

Ovarian cancer

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21701041

Neuroblastoma

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21557214

Lung cancer https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21239354 

Non-Hodgkin follicular lymphoma

  • https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2010/414726/

And most other cancers

DCA seems to have an affinity for brain and nervous system cancers for some reason (whether it is easier to reach the brain or spreads faster in the brain), and it seems to work quickly under the right conditions. This is The reason why a multi-pronged treatment of cancer is very important. An article was recently published discussing this issue, and the article can also be found in the Journal of Medical Cases.

In patients with cancer that tends to spread to the brain and central nervous system (such as advanced lung cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer, breast cancer, etc.), DCA may also be used as a preventive or protective agent.

As far as I know, some of my colleagues are using DCA for other types of cancer and have reported some interesting findings. Combining it with radiotherapy and chemotherapy seems to ensure that this drug is more successful. For example, one of our patients with a history of ovarian cancer felt that the combination of DCA and her chemotherapy regimen was better for her than chemotherapy alone.

In mainstream literature, 5 patients with brain tumors (that is, glioblastoma) tried dca, 3 of them showed good results on MRI scans, and 4 patients were still in stable condition after 15 months. dca controls the progression of cancer. DCA is used in conjunction with their conventional treatment procedures. There is also a case report of a patient with stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The patient had a complete remission several months after the start of DCA, and all the tumors disappeared. Some other medical centers, such as myself, have also begun to publish some of their positive findings in journals.

Some of the valuable applications of DCA in cancer include its good response to cholangiocarcinoma (cholangiocarcinoma), and it helps to relieve pain even when conventional methods fail. We have already seen that the combined use of DCA in bile/gallbladder cancer has a very good effect in some patients. This may also be another group of people who should explore the use of DCA.

 

 

 


Other positive effects:

Reduce cancer pain (reduce acidity) http://www.oicc.ca/uploads/dca-health-professional.pdf

Reduced 50% of massive ascites in patients without adjuvant chemotherapy (<a http://www.oicc.ca/uploads/dca-health-professional.pdf

Can effectively treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) https://www.nature.com/articles/nrcardio.2017.188

In addition to the fact that the cost is low, the side effects are small and everyone can use it, DCA has become one of the drugs that all cancer patients can try.

More importantly, due to its mechanism of action, DCA supports chemotherapy and radiotherapy (increasing the types of reactive oxygen species in cancer cells and reducing the acidity around the tumor) https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2011/740564 / https: //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X17309786

Moreover, by reducing the acidity around the tumor, the immune system can increase its activity in these specific areas.

However, as you will see, if you read the rest of this article, we still need to use some tricks to increase the chances of DCA against cancer.

 

Anecdote:

Please refer to http://www.thedcasite.com/

More case reports and anecdotal stories can be found here <a https://medicorcancer.com/new-dca-publication-world-first/

 

 

 


Mechanism

 

For those familiar with cell metabolism, the mechanism behind DCA’s anti-cancer effect is relatively simple. At least what we know today is the main one. In short, this is how DCA works:

https://www.cancertreatmentsresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DCA-2-1.jpg

Original photo: https://www.nature.com/nrc/journal/v10/n4/fig_tab/nrc2817_F1.html

Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) is a complex of enzymes that converts cytolytic pyruvate into mitochondrial acetyl-CoA, which is a substrate of the Krebs cycle.

However, in most cancers, another enzyme (mitochondrial enzyme) called pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) is activated and causes selective inhibition of PDH.

As a result, pyruvic acid cannot enter instead of mitochondria because it inhibits PDH and therefore cannot enter pyruvate, so it travels further along the mannose (fermentation) pathway and is eventually converted to lactic acid.

DCA has the potential to inhibit PDK, so PDH can work again.

When PDH works, pyruvate can be processed by the mitochondria, allowing the cell engine to regenerate energy (ATP) in the normal way instead of fermentation.

When the mitochondria works it can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well. It is well known that high levels of ROS (such as H2O2) can inhibit tumor growth and cause cell apoptosis.

This is why DCA is helpful for chemotherapy and radiation therapy, because these two treatment approaches can lead to an increase in ROS. Normally, cancer cells produce high levels of Antoxin to cope with intracellular ROS, but once the ROS level1 is high (due to, for example, chemotherapy and/or DCA) the tumor cells will be killed.

 

 

How does DCA work?

 

It seems that a large part of how DCA kills cancer cells is achieved by affecting mitochondrial function (the “battery” center). DCA may interfere with the way cancer cells use energy, making them more vulnerable.

From a metabolic point of view, this effect is a new way to target cancer cells, which was derived from a very old study by Dr. Otto Warburg (a nobleman in 1931).

Basically, he has shown that cancer cells use sugar to grow (that is, Warburg-Effect), and therefore, by interfering with the metabolizable energy process can potentially destroy more sensitive growing cancers. A recent study in colon cancer cell lines showed that when the oxygen environment is normal, cancer cells will die of DCA (aka apoptosis).

However, it has also been observed that when the oxygen content in the environment is low (ie low oxygen), DCA seems to be more protective against cancer, which means that caution is required, and the oxygen or oxidation mechanism may also be related to how it selectively kills Cancer related.

Studies have also shown that DCA may also target and restore the immune system due to the enhanced anti-tumor activity caused by cancer.

 

Here is more detailed information about how DCA works: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2567082/ “> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/ Article/PMC2567082

Indeed, it has been proven that dichloroacetic acid treatment can improve mitochondrial metabolism, and the pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and the content of acetyl-CoA in mitochondria after DCA treatment are significantly higher https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ 27153546

It has also been shown that DCA induces autophagy in cancer cells, accompanied by the production of ROS and suppression of mTOR, a decrease in lactate excretion, a decrease in k(PL), and an increase in the NAD(+)/NADH ratio. Observed cellular and metabolic changes can restore treatment. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24892448

Vitamin B1 and alpha-lipoic acid may fight cancer in the form of dichloroacetate through a similar mechanism https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24452394 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles / PMC3542233 /

 

 

 


It seems ideal in combination with other treatments

 

It is likely that the ideal situation for using DCA is in combination with chemotherapy/radiotherapy, the immune system and related anti-cancer programs, because they may better promote each other.

 

 

 


Summary of how DCA interacts with certain chemotherapeutics and radiation:

 

According to reports, in BRAFV600E mutant melanoma cells, DCA and Zelboraf induced a greater reduction in intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels and cell growth than any compound used alone. In addition, melanoma cells resistant to Zelboraf in vitro still retain their sensitivity to DCA.

DCA has also been shown to interact with platinum drugs, 5-fluorouracil, metformin, capecitabine, arsenic trioxide, estradiol analogue C9, paclitaxel, tamoxifen, temozolomide, sorafenib, sulindac, bevacizol Anti-bortezomib, doxorubicin, topotecan and the combined effect of radiation, photodynamic therapy, phototherapy, photodynamic therapy and hyperthermia. So far, DCA has not been found to have adverse interactions with other drugs.

The ability of hyperthermia to target cancer by using high temperature or heat seems to further enhance the effect of DCA.

 

Human case report:

Long-term stabilization of stage 4 colorectal cancer using sodium dichloroacetic acid therapy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27803917

A case was presented in which oral DCA treatment resulted in a 57-year-old woman with a stage 4 colon cancer tumor that was stable for nearly 4 years without serious toxicity. Since the natural history of stage 4 colon cancer includes stable progression leading to disability and death, this case emphasizes the new use of DCA as a cytostatic agent and the possibility of maintaining the long-term stability of advanced cancer.

A new form of dichloroacetate therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced cancer: 3 case reports http://alternative-therapies.com/at/web_pdfs/s202khan.pdf

Currently, oral sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) is being studied as a single drug and an adjuvant for the treatment of various cancers. One of the factors limiting its clinical application in continuous oral regimens is dose-related reversible neurotoxicity, including peripheral neuropathy and encephalopathy. The intravenous (IV) route has many potential advantages, including

(1) pulsed administration to achieve higher concentrations than oral use is feasible;

(2) longer flushing time to reduce potential neurotoxicity;

(3) bypass Passing the digestive system is especially important for patients with advanced cancer.

 

In both healthy volunteers and critically ill patients, data on high-dose intravenous DCA (up to 100 mg/kg/dose) that has proven its safety has been obtained, enabling the author to start off-label treatment for cancer patients. In several patients treated with intravenous DCA, the authors observed clinical, hematological or radiological reactions. This article describes 3 patients with recurrent cancer who have failed conventional treatment:

(1) a 79-year-old male patient with colon cancer had liver metastases,

(2) a 43-year-old male cancer patient had liver metastases. Angiosarcoma with pancreatic and bone metastases,

(3) a 10-year-old male patient with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer with liver metastases.

 

The co-treatment of dichloroacetate, omeprazole and tamoxifen has a synergistic antiproliferative effect on malignant tumors: an in vivo experiment and a case report. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/225806 46

DCA combined with OPZ and TAM showed stronger anti-tumor activity in HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells than DCA alone, but did not affect the proliferation of WI-38 human fibroblasts. All these drugs induce caspase-dependent cell growth inhibition by producing superoxide. Since they can be taken orally and have been used clinically without major side effects, it is believed that this combination therapy will be an easily translated strategy for the treatment of malignant tumors. With the patient’s consent, these three drugs were prescribed to a 51-year-old female patient with cholangiocarcinoma. Gemcitabine + S-1 or adoptive immunotherapy with natural killer cells were ineffective. CT also confirmed that the disease progression was successfully blocked (increased serum CA19-9 value) for three months.

Reversing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with dichloroacetate https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2010/414726/

In June 2007, a 48-year-old male patient diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s follicular lymphoma (NHL) underwent conventional chemotherapy for 3 months, resulting in complete remission. About a year later, the tumor recurred in the nasopharyngeal and cervical lymph glands. Rejecting all recommended chemotherapy, the patient started taking 900 mg of dichloroacetic acid (DCA) daily and underwent a PET scan, which showed complete remission after four months. Since his last PET scan in May 2009, he has not been bothered by the continued use of DCA.

Prolonged survival time after dichloroacetic acid treatment of non-small cell lung cancer related leptomeningeal cancer http://www.journalmc.org/index.php/JMC/article/view/2456/1816

Here, we provide an observational case report. The patient is a 49-year-old female, non-smoker, with severe non-small cell lung cancer and leptomeningeal carcinoma (LMC) who survived oral dichloroacetic acid (DCA) Approximately 64 weeks (454 days) after palliative whole-brain radiotherapy, there is no need for chemotherapy or further targeted treatment of LMC. As far as we know, this is the first case report of the combined use of DCA in LMC. Our findings are discussed in the previously reported application of DCA in central nervous system malignancies.

 

 

 


Anaplastic oligodendroglioma (1p / 19q chromosome normal)-brain cancer

 

One of the first patients we recommend using DCA is a 39-year-old woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumor called degenerative oligodendroglioma. She underwent surgery to get as many tumors as possible that the surgeon can treat (some of which were left behind), followed by radiotherapy and oral chemotherapy called Temozolomide, which she continues to this day. The patient has been stable for more than one year and received standard tumor treatment as well as comprehensive natural therapies. The patient flourished from beginning to end. However, compared with other patients, this patient is more unique. Although her brain tumor is very stable, and as several of my patients have proved, the disease can last for many years, but her goal is still hope The tumor disappeared completely! It is in this process (eventually a push) that DCA is questioned and her wish will become a greater reality.

We noticed that DCA causes numbness in the hands and feet, which is a common side effect. For me, this means that the drug can penetrate into the nervous system and even the brain and act in it. Based on these observations, and to get better comfort from DCA, we decided to include DCA in her agreement and observe how it will develop. However, in this case, although most patients take DCA (pills or powder) by mouth, the intravenous injection we use can help another patient with advanced ovarian cancer. As far as I know, no one else has used DCA intravenously to treat cancer. This is the first time we have started using it. In research papers (non-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exercise, congestive heart failure), there are data on the use of DCA injection to treat medical diseases not related to cancer, which provides me with safety about its potential uses and safety for patients sex.

During the first injection, brain cancer patients started to feel “tingling” in the tumor site of the head. In the few years I have focused on cancer, we have never seen this effect. We were initially worried about whether this was a good effect or a negative effect (later we knew it was okay). Together, we continue the DCA program twice a week, and mix low-dose vitamin C and B-vitamins in an IV bag to theoretically help resolve any potential neurological side effects. In addition, during the entire process, the patient continued to receive oral temozolomide chemotherapy (no adverse reactions).

We noticed that over time, the tingling sensation in her head disappeared, and we were not sure what it meant. The next MRI scan showed a stable image again, and in the next few months, another MRI scan of the brain showed that the tumor was dead or inactive. This observation is a wonderful result! Is this due to a combination of DCA and chemotherapy, DCA or chemotherapeutic agents? Generally, in this subtype of brain tumors, chemotherapy is considered ineffective and has a poorer survival compared to patients with more genetically favorable conditions (i.e., 1p/19q chromosome deletion). About 5 years later, the patient had stopped DCA and other treatments, including temozolomide, and she had a slight tumor regrowth. It was decided to surgically remove the area. Unfortunately, she passed away a few days later due to complications of the operation.

 

 


NSCLC-lung cancer with brain metastases-light meningeal carcinoma (LMC)

 

The case has been published in the Journal of Medical Cases

In another case, a 49-year-old woman who did not smoke and had a history of lung cancer better demonstrated the value of DCA and its effects on the body and brain. The patient was initially diagnosed with stage III lung cancer in 2006 and was treated for more than 2 years while also using a dedicated acupuncturist (Gerard Tan from Vancouver), comprehensive cancer care methods and oral chemical drug Tarceva, The patient’s response is very good. During this period, she showed no signs of cancer. During this time, she was also very active, without any complications other than the rash, which is a positive sign of Tarceva’s work.

Unfortunately, after this prime time, she showed a low-grade headache, which was eventually identified as a metastatic cancer, which spread to the brain in July 2008 and was called leptomeningeal carcinoma (LMC). She received whole-brain radiation, which did not seem to help. Later, she received a surgical stent in the brain to help drain the liquid accumulated in it. Chemotherapy is no longer an option. When I finally met her in the office, due to the side effects of radiation therapy, her hearing and vision were very poor (impaired), and she also lost a lot of weight. We personally feel that her time with us will be very short (ie a few days to a few weeks)-thankfully, we were wrong. Like the previous patient, the patient has a strong desire for life. She put pressure on all of us and they tried to do their best to find a solution as soon as possible.

After a series of attempts to recommend treatment options, we introduced the possibility of DCA. We shared our personal insights and preliminary observations about the use of DCA and its potential to target brain and central nervous system cancers with the patient’s husband. Therefore, we recommend that the patient and the patient’s husband take the DCA mixed liquid by mouth. In addition, acupuncturist Gerard Tan continued to provide treatment, including this home visit, which greatly helped them. A few days later, after starting the DCA, we received a phone call from a very sincere husband who discovered that his wife’s cognitive abilities had improved a lot. And after several weeks, appetite and weight gain have also improved. Finally, a brain scan in December (3 months later) showed that the disease was stable and the tumor was shrinking! This good effect of DCA on meningeal carcinoma LMC is indeed worth mentioning, because there have not been many reports on this particular pathology before. However, it is interesting that her lung cancer is progressing slowly, so it seems to support my observation that DCA is very helpful for “cervical spondylosis” or central nervous system cancer (that is, whether it is a primary or secondary source).

Since the brain is no longer the main problem, the patient once again opened the option of chemotherapy. The patient also went to see a very avant-garde medical oncologist, which greatly helped them. She continued to take DCA for 6 months and then stopped. Three months later, the patient underwent a CT scan again, which showed that even though DCA had been stopped, the brain remained stable. She seems to be satisfied with the new chemotherapy. In the end, after a long and brave fight, the patient passed away, but it was related to lung infection/complications of pneumonia, not to cancer.

The patient survived for 454 days (64 weeks) after the introduction of DCA, about 74 weeks after the diagnosis of brain disease LMC, and overall, survived more than 3 and a half years after the initial diagnosis of lung cancer. Statistically speaking, she should have survived only a few months after brain metastasis.

 

ATRT Grade IV-Pediatric Brain Cancer

One of the youngest patients to receive DCA was a 21-month-old infant who was diagnosed with grade IV atypical teratomoid rhabdomyomas (ATRT) in April 2010.

This type of brain cancer is extremely rare and aggressive. Since there are few cases of this disease (for example, there are 5-7 cases in Canada), traditional treatment methods and more experimental methods (such as DCA) have been very effective so far. Therefore, parents decide to try treatments with fewer side effects first, and if there are signs of disease progression, they should change the treatment plan as planned.

One of our recommended recommendations is to use DCA in addition to other treatment options. Although we have never used it in a pediatric setting, we know that it is easy to take (can be mixed in juice), and it looks safe, and we suspect that dca is more potential positive than potential for children The negative factors (I know from adults that the negative effects of dca are reversible).

Remember, the main use of DCA was first given to children suffering from metabolic diseases for decades. With the natural treatment of tumor procedures, we started using DCA very cautiously. At first, medical oncologists hesitated about this idea. But as months passed and the baby showed no signs of disease progression, the oncologist’s view began to change in a more positive direction. Eventually, the oncologist began to personally prescribe DCA for the family.

In September 2010, an MRI examination was ordered, which showed that the brain tumor had grown again. As you can imagine, this is a great disappointment for everyone. However, medical oncologists believe that dca actually has positive benefits. He suspects that the growth rate of tumors has actually slowed down (that is, not doubling every 15 days, but doubling every 30 days).

Since children take many drugs besides DCA, we are not sure which drug can help explain this effect. However, we hope this can provide an example for future parents and oncologists to consider using DCA (which may be used in higher doses) (and other natural remedies) with other care options in order to ultimately get better for future children. Good results.

 

More case reports and anecdotal stories can be found here https://medicorcancer.com/new-dca-publication-world-first/

 

 

 

 


Safety and toxicity

 

DCA can cause reversible peripheral neuropathy, which may be related to the deficiency of thiamine and vitamin b1, which can be relieved or prevented by supplementing thiamine. This is the main potential side effect.

In most patients who use it, DCA is well tolerated. Side effects are mild, but may include fatigue, confusion, memory loss, sedation, tremor, hallucinations, restlessness, depression, heartburn (oral) and nausea (oral) http://www.oicc.ca/uploads/dca-health -Professional.pdf

DCA is metabolized in the liver, so you need to be cautious when using DCA when liver function is impaired.

 

 

 


What are the side effects or toxicity problems associated with using DCA?

 

We must first remember that the most common side effects we see in practice are symptoms of numbness and tingling. According to our experience, this effect is reversible after stopping the drug, and we have patients who have used DCA for more than 2 years. So far, we have not found any side effects. Older and frail patients may be more sensitive to these side effects than younger patients. Among unmonitored patients, there is a recently published case in which DCA only used DCA for 1 month (1200 mg/day) and accompanied by high doses of vitamin A causing very severe numbness and severe brain irritation in patients with metastatic melanoma (Ie encephalopathy) (150,000 IU/day), and recovered after 8 months of recovery. We haven’t seen this with our own eyes. However, personal communication with the author of this report shows that the patient has been suffering from this metastatic disease for more than 3 years. According to conventional standards, the persistence of this metastatic advanced cancer for three years is considered very impressive (ie higher than Average). However, it is strongly recommended that patients need to be medically monitored when using DCA!

When DCA is taken orally, due to its vinegar-like properties, another possible side effect is that it may irritate the stomach, especially for people who are already very sensitive. It may be recommended that gastroprotective drugs be used with DCA in interested patients. This potential side effect is rare.

We have also seen that a small percentage of patients may feel “drowsy or drowsy” when using DCA. In particular, we have seen this potential effect in patients with brain cancer (i.e. glioblastoma), and we suspect that this condition may be caused by surgery, chemoradiation and other methods that have stimulated the brain. . If this is a problem, dcaz can be reduced and adjusted so that it can be recovered.

Although rare or rare in our experience, DCA may also put a certain degree of pressure on the liver, which may be more severe in long-term users. There is a case report that the combination of DCA and the antimalarial drug artesunate is associated with the person’s liver failure and subsequent death.

According to a study by Dr. Michelakis from Alberta, it takes about 3 months for DCA to be detected in the blood after oral use. Maybe it accumulates better in tissues and cerebrospinal fluid, which is not common and can be challenging to test. We suspect that an initial loading dose by intravenous injection may be required, and then the oral dose may be maintained in a group of patients to help obtain a faster and best treatment effect. For patients who can do this and then undergo an oral maintenance dose regimen, the intravenous route may be the ideal approach (ie, oral vitamin C is the same as intravenous vitamin C)

 

 

 


Pharmacokinetics

 

It is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and less than 1% of a given total dose is excreted in urine; the metabolism of DCA occurs in the liver. DCA inhibits its own metabolism, resulting in slower clearance from the body after multiple doses, thereby increasing the potential toxic effects; although the half-life of the initial dose is less than one hour, the half-life of continuous doses increases to several hours. This effect seems to have reached a steady state, and continuous use of DCA serum levels will not continue to rise http://www.oicc.ca/uploads/dca-health-professional.pdf

 

Oral administration

First start with 10mg/kg/day, then gradually increase to about 25mg/kg/day (others will increase the dose, but I prefer safety, on the contrary, 25mg/kg/day is well tolerated, https:/ /www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4455946/If peripheral nerve numbness occurs, please reduce the dose slightly below the level where it occurs. You can calculate the dose based on your weight here http://www .thedcasite.com/dca_dosage.html

 

Use half the dose in the morning and half the dose in the evening

In order to avoid peripheral nerve numbness, please use DCA for 5 days a week, and then stop using it on the other two days (others use the 2-week turn-on and 1-week turn-off regimen)

According to this article at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27356574/, it is best to use a two-week turn-on and one-week turn-off plan.

 

Use DCA until there are no signs of disease

It is best to drink by mixing the powder in the capsule with water: this allows for better absorption.

The effect of DCA depends on the dose, but there is a saturation level, beyond which there is no additional benefit

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2810694

 

Supplements that increase potency or address potential side effects:

Caffeine: In theory, caffeine will increase its efficacy; besides improving microvascular circulation, I don’t understand the mechanism behind it

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) can reduce the chance of numbness around nerves and some take 2500 mg a day http://www.thedcasite.com/dca_dosage.html In addition, vitamin B1 has anti-cancer effects similar to DCA https://www.thedcasite.com/dca_dosage.html .ncbi.nlm .nih.gov / pubmed / 24452394

Procaine, diclofenac or sulindac increase SMCT1 (see above)

Omeprazole 80 mg/day to increase the effectiveness of DCA (see above)

Scorpion venom improves DCA effectiveness (see above)

Metformin 1000mg to 1500mg/day.

 

 

 


How to further improve the effect of dichloroacetate dca:

 

The main principle of Dca is to inhibit a chemical reaction step in anaerobic glycolysis, thereby promoting sugar metabolism to the aerobic metabolic triphosphate cycle in mitochondria, which is the main sugar metabolism mode of normal cells (TCA cycle). From the principle point of view, dca should be broad-spectrum for anaerobic glycolysis, which is common in cancer cells. Especially high-dose dca can also promote cancer cell apoptosis by increasing the level of citric acid inside cancer cells. Supplementing 5 to 600ml of lemonade every day is likely to promote the anti-cancer effect of dca.

In addition, DCA also requires the activation of smct1 gene to promote apoptosis of cancer cells. Supplementing probiotics helps to activate smct1 gene. In addition, diclofenac sodium also has the effect of activating smct1 gene. Resveratrol and quercetin have the effect of inhibiting smct1, so it is necessary to avoid excessive intake. Omeprazole has the effect of avoiding dca resistance.

 

1. Dosage

The recommended daily dose of DCA is 20 mg/kg per day (milligrams per person per day).

Calculating the dose for a particular person is simple: just multiply your weight by 20 mg/kg and you will get a daily dose of DCA in milligrams.

For example-if the person weighs 75 kg:

75 kg x 20 mg/kg = 1500 mg per day = 1.5 g DCA per day (5 333 mg capsules or 3 500 mg capsules)

The person’s weight should be more than overweight.

 

Minimum dose

The minimum therapeutically effective DCA dose per day is twice lower-10 mg/kg per day. It is not recommended to use a smaller amount of the drug because the drug may have little effect.

 

Maximum dose

If there are no impurities, the DCA dose can be increased to 30-40 mg/kg per day.

If there are strong side effects, the daily dose should be reduced to 10-20 mg/kg per day.

 

2. Measuring DCA powder

The most accurate method for measuring DCA powder is an aqueous solution. It is best to prepare a solution containing 0.1 g of DCA powder in 1 ml of aqueous solution.

1) Add 25 grams of DCA into a 250 ml bottle (or 50 grams into 500 ml, or 100 grams into 1000 ml). Warning: If there is a desiccant bag inside, please take it out and put it in.

2) Pour cold distilled water to 250 ml.

3) Close the bottle and shake until the powder dissolves.

4) In this way, 1 ml of solution will hold 0.1 g of sodium dichloroacetate

1 ml of DCA solution = 0.1 g of powdered DCA

DCA solution, ml 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DCA powder, g 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0

 

3. DCA timetable

DCA should be taken 2 times a day with food. Half in the morning and half in the evening.

For example, if a person weighs 80 kg and takes 2 grams (6 capsules) a day, they should take 1 gram (3 capsules) for breakfast and 1 gram (3 capsules) for dinner. ).

In the first week of treatment, the dose should be reduced:

  • % Of daily dose
  • 25% on the first day
  • 50% on day 2
  • 75% on the third day
  • 75% on the fourth day
  • 75% on the fifth day
  • Rest on the sixth day
  • Rest on the seventh day

If the use of DCA does not cause any adverse side effects, please start taking the full dose next week.

There are two known DCA usage scenarios:

A) Take DCA all day for five consecutive days, and then rest for two days. Repeat this procedure every new week. (Old method)

B) Take a full dose of DCA every day for two weeks, then take a week off. When seeking better anti-tumor effects, this solution may be more beneficial. (new method)

 

4. Treatment time

The best results are expected in stage 1, 2 and 3 cancers.

Stage 1-2:

It usually takes about 2-3 months, depending on the results.

Frequent scans and tests to monitor your cancer.

To prevent recurrence: If remission, it is recommended to take DCA regularly (about 6 weeks every 18 months). It should be tested and the frequency of DCA treatment can be increased if needed.

In the first, second or third stage of the operation, all or most of the tumor is removed:

About 6 weeks before surgery (to locate the tumor) and about 8 weeks before implantation (to prevent metastasis).

Frequent scans and tests to monitor your cancer.

To prevent recurrence: If remission, it is recommended to take DCA regularly (about 6 weeks every 18 months). It should be tested and the frequency of DCA treatment can be increased if needed.

The third stage:

Usually about 3-4 months, depending on the results.

Frequent scans and tests to monitor your cancer.

To prevent recurrence: If remission, it is recommended to take DCA regularly (about 6 weeks every 3-6 months). It should be tested and the frequency of DCA treatment can be increased if needed.

Stage 4:

Take it regularly. In the case of positive results, depending on the situation, the dose of DCA may be reduced, and the rest time.

Frequent scans and tests to monitor your cancer.

A healthy lifestyle is very important.

 

5. Abnormal

The abnormality occurs in approximately 45% of cases and corresponds to age (where it is expected in younger patients). They are reversible and should disappear immediately after stopping DCA treatment.

 

6. Additional measures to be taken

In order to reduce or prevent neurological diseases, the following supplementary measures can be taken:

Vitamin B1 (thiamine)-50-300 mg per day (the most important supplement, which can reduce the occurrence of neuropathy. Vitamin B1 also has other anti-cancer properties),

Alpha-LIPOIC acid-200-500 mg per day (not taken with chemicals, please wait 1 week; not taken with radiotherapy, please wait 2 weeks)

  • Levocarnitine-500-1500 mg daily

You can also take supplements that help liver function:

  • Silymarin supplements (for example: Carcil)
  • Lecithin (for example: Essentiale forte)

 

 

(source:internet, reference only)


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