Over-Hyped Cancer Drug (Sodium Dichloroacetate) May Be Useful to Millions of Women Around the World Battling Against Endometrial Cancer.
FDA recently approved the generic of a new drug which is thought to treat women suffering from endometrial cancer or endometriosis.
Tissues similar to womb lining are starting to grow in other places such as Fallopian tubes, pelvic lining, and ovaries.
The drug is called Dichloroacetate which reduces the size and growth of painful lesions, theoretically.
Whereas in clinical trials on lab mice, the drug shown efficacy against endometriosis by reducing the pelvic lesions remarkably.
In the human body, the lesions build-up is majorly caused by the higher lactate level which stimulates the production of abnormal cells.
The University of Edinburgh took the responsibility and decides they will test this drug on women and see if it works the same way.
DCA can stop the proliferation of cancerous cell and since in endometriosis, the cells usually behave like cancerous cells so it could work.
The whole news about DCA appeared in the scientific journals almost a decade ago where it found out to be cancerous cells killer by making the tumor shrunk in rats.
After this some people tried to purchase the drug online and so far got successes, FDA urged customers to avoid the compound until further researches are done.
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Endometriosis – What Is It and How It’s Diagnosed?
Endometrial cancer occurs where the cells found in the lining of womb found elsewhere in the body, these cells have the ability to multiply which gives them cancer attribute.
The cells on the womb lining in women behave like the same pattern every month where they break down and bleed, this is unusual for other body parts where these cells are developed since there is no way for blood to pass through.
Endometriosis symptoms include heavy period pain, fatigue, chances of infertility, bowel pain and bladder problems.
The causes for endometriosis are genetic, exposure to the harmful chemicals and problems with the immune system.
An endometrial cancer diagnosis is made by a laparoscopy; this is an operative procedure where a camera is inserted into the pelvis after a small incision near the belly button.
Then the surgeons look for the pelvic organs and see if there is a chance for endometriosis to occur.
If it’s diagnosed positive, the treatment included removal of the cancerous cells after a further examination during the laparoscopy.
Endometriosis treatments are pain relievers and those to improve quality of life, some women are given hormonal treatment to avoid excessive bleeding.
Can Dichloroacetate Treat Cancer?
The proper mechanism of DCA to suppress cancer cells are not proven yet, the Canadian study in 2007 suggested that DCA can give them a chance to reverse the cancer cell growth.
Another promising fact gathered by the University of Alberta researchers in their published study, which say “DCA provides effective measures in shrinking down the tumors in laboratory rats and human cells in-vitro.
The American cancer society does not recommend to use DCA as an alternative therapy for cancer treatment and this is why the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved it.
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Pathophysiology of Endometriosis
The nightmare of Endometriosis is experienced by over 176 million women around the world, statistically speaking.
In Endometriosis, every month the women’s womb cells behave in the same manner which is to build up and break down.
In order to observe this situation precisely, Professor Andrew Horne took the sample of pelvic tissue by 16 different females who have either endometrial cancer or not.
It was peculiar to find out that the cells in women with endometriosis behave in a certain way and produce different energy than those females who do not have this condition.
These cells secrete more lactate as a result, which creates a surround that supports the growth of abnormal cells. Lactate is the common enemy when it comes to stimulating and spread the growth of cancerous cells which led the scientist to the DCA.
After a team of scientists exposed human tissues to DCA for 48 hours time period, they noticed the metabolic behavior returned to normal and they also noticed the secretion of lactate has been reduced.
Following this study, Professor Horne fed mice DCA once every week, it was noticed that DCA cut down the lactate acid concentration in the pelvic fluid which helps to reduce the size of endometrial lesions.
But this treatment is not enough, said by Professor Andrew Horne as he expects to see the drug which can target endometriosis in the peritoneum, this lining of the pelvis is the prime location for the proliferation of abnormal cells.
He said: ‘Endometriosis can be a life-changing situation for so many women.
‘Now that we understand better the metabolism of the cells in women that have endometriosis, we can work to develop a non-hormonal treatment.
Current treatments for Endometriosis are either hormonal based which are proven to produce certain side effects. The surgical procedure is also the option which after 5 years is known to grow back to its original state.
This is where the studies show us that women who are intolerant to hormone-based medications can use DCA to alleviate endometriosis in females. Not every woman can use DCA as it works like contraceptive pills which in most cases lead females to infertility.
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Professor Horne added: ‘Through a clinical trial with DCA we should be able to see if the conditions we observed in the lab are replicated in women.’
Janet Lindsay, chief executive of the charity Wellbeing of Women, welcomed the Medical Research Council UK-funded study.
She said: ‘Few people have heard of it [endometriosis] and treatment, which can impact fertility, has progressed very little for over 40 years.
‘We are pleased that Professor Andrew Horne’s new treatment going to clinical trial could hugely impact so many women’s lives.’
Final Words
Dichloroacetate is also being subjected to many studies on humans with malignant brain tumors, the results could be hopeful but the clinical trials about DCA are still in the early phase which many cancer experts are so far skeptical about what it can do.
DCA is not approved in the US because the FDA hasn’t approved it for safe cancer treatment.
References
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7746283/Controversial-cancer-drug-offer-hope-millions-women-battling-endometriosis.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24297161
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4455946/
https://www.anticancerfund.org/fr/projects/study-safety-and-efficacy-dichloroacetate-glioblastoma-and-other-recurrent-brain-tumours
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01111097