Simple, cheap drug holds cancer treatment promise

An inexpensive drug already in use for other diseases might hold the key to a completely new way of treating cancers -- not by killing off cancer cells, but by simply reprogramming them.

The finding comes from some exciting Canadian research on patients with brain tumours. The study found that DCA -- or dichloroacetate -- can shrink the tumours by altering a cancer cell's metabolism....

There was a story on this a couple years ago, the results of DCH are very impressive, in fact the biggest risk seem to be in killing the tumour too fast.

Medicor Cancer Centres in Toronto off it as an 'off-label' cancer therapy. (http://www.medicorcancer.com/dca-therapy.html), and wikipedia has more details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloroacetic_acid

from article:

Researchers' biggest challenge: no industry support

Still, he said, if DCA is shown in further studies to be effective, the fact that it is already being used to treat mitochondrial diseases would make it easier for it to be approved for a new use.

Michelakis notes that all of the studies they've undertaken thus far on DCA have come with the support of the University of Alberta and public donations. That's in part because DCA is a commonly available compound that is not patented or owned by any drug firm. Pharmaceutical companies have not been interested in funding further research on DCA since the treatment won't make them a profit.

"That was the biggest challenge in the beginning: no industry support, no clinical applications," Michelakis said.

"We showed that, yes, you can take a generic drug, and if you have the right support, from the university and from the health authority and you have the generous support of donors and funding agencies, you can make it happen," he said.

He also notes that similar studies will soon start on the use of DCA for treating breast cancer, and could be extended to other cancers, too.

The University of Alberta continues to solicit funds to advance the research on DCA. Anyone who would like to donate to the university's DCA Cancer Research Fund can do so online, or by contacting the university's Faculty of Medicine.

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