WHAT IS DCA? THE REAL STORY BEHIND THIS ALTERNATIVE CANCER TREATMENT

By The Reno Dispatch Guest Blogger Martin C. Winer

One of the most devastating diagnoses a patient can receive
is cancer, which can sometimes mean years of chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgery affecting the patient’s quality of life. As a result, patients often look to the Internet hoping to find an alternative that will restore their health with greater speed and fewer side effects.  

A simple Internet search produces a plethora of results with great promises but little backing research. Separating the silver from the dross often requires a graduate degree, so typically, the patient, in frustration, brings a ream of printouts to his or her oncologist, who usually hasn’t heard of half of the remedies or at best rolls his or her eyes at them. 

Dichloroacetate Acid (DCA) is one of these remedies. 

DCA’s anti-cancer properties were discovered in 2007 by Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta. In experiments on rats, Michelakis showed that DCA demonstrated dramatic action against a wide variety of cancers. He experienced a “eureka moment” when he saw that tumors of various types had been dramatically reduced over the course of a few short weeks.  

Moreover, DCA showed very minimal disruption to healthy cells. “This is the so-called Holy Grail of cancer treatment,” remarked Michelakis at the time. But Michelakis, along with a host of other medical professionals, warned patients against self-medicating despite a spate of nascent websites offering the product. 

In medical research the gold standard of acceptability of a treatment is a phase III clinical trial. There is only one problem: DCA is not patentable. It has already been used at least since the 1970’s in the treatment of a rare metabolic disorder and is generally well tolerated. Moreover, the chemical is simple and dirt cheap.  

Michelakis appealed to the private sector and the Canadian Government and secured $1.5 million dollars in financing to conduct a phase II trial to demonstrate that DCA could work in humans the same way it worked in mice. However, the trial could only point to five patients, two of whom responded to DCA alone. It established that DCA does work in humans (and not only rats), but was hardly definitive proof.

In another approach, Dr Akbar Khan, Medical Director of Medicor Cancer Centres, decided to prescribe DCA ‘off label’ in cancer patients. ‘Off label’ prescribing is a common practice which allows doctors to prescribe drugs for uses for which it wasn’t originally approved. In so doing, Medicor amassed considerable data and published its results online.

In summary, Medicor demonstrated a 60 percent response rate to DCA where response is defined to be a reduction in tumor markers, decrease in pain, size reduction, etc. Khan points out that this 60 percent response rate is in a population of  “very sick people who came to Medicor often as a last resort after mainstream oncology had failed them.”  

Medicor continues to publishes other journal articles as results become available.

The Hippocratic Oath, the core guidance to a physician’s conduct, states famously: “Do no harm.” In the case of DCA, perhaps the Hippocratic Oath has to be interpreted differently. It is possible to do harm by inaction. In the case of a patient suffering with cancer who is presented with the possibility of an agent like DCA, which has few side effects, perhaps doctors ought to consider that they may be doing harm to their patients by blocking access to this medicine.

The side effects of DCA are much milder than most standard chemotherapy agents. The most notable effect is peripheral neuropathy – a tingling of the extremities – which is dose dependent and reversible upon completion of treatment. Balancing reward against this risk, DCA is a novel approach to cancer treatment. It heals cells such that they can heal themselves. 

In most healthy cells, the cell itself can detect that it is in a cancerous state and undergoes ‘apoptosis,’ which is cellular suicide, avoiding the cancer. In some cancers, this mechanism is derailed. DCA repairs this mechanism, allowing the body to heal itself naturally without the sometimes horrific side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, which can cause cancer themselves.

Since DCA isn’t accepted by most oncologists, what is a patient to do? One must seek a doctor who will administer DCA and monitor the patient for side effects and progress. Self-medicating, especially in the case of cancer, is ill advised. Medicor Cancer Centres - based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada - is the only clinic this author has encountered which treats patients worldwide and in coordination with the patient’s oncologist if desired.  

Medicor also has a naturopath on staff that can suggest safe, alternative supplements which can mitigate side effects and increase the general well-being of patients during treatment. 

I support Medicor's efforts. Why? Search the Internet for a similar service: medically supervised administration of DCA, open disclosure of results, no hype. In fact, it is to my knowledge, the only way to get medically supervised DCA. I’m sure there are super private medical clinics but that does little for the general public.

The most important component of a successful treatment plan for cancer is an informed patient. It’s important to develop a relationship of trust and exchange with your health care provider. It’s vital not to dismiss traditional approaches outright because they very well may save your life. Indeed, it seems that DCA works very well as an adjuvant therapy alongside traditional chemotherapy.  

On the other hand, if your oncologist dismisses you out of hand when you discuss DCA with him or her simply as a result of entrenched dogma, perhaps you should continue your search for another doctor.

Martin Winer, who holds a B.Sc. in biology and has been actively researching DCA and cancer for many years, is currently researching a possible synergy between DCA and Avemar, another natural and milder cancer treatment. For more information visit www.martincwiner.com/dca.