Canadian study from December 2010, this is more recent than the OP's info.
DCA Effectiveness Doctors
Submitted by prokopton on Sat, 2010-12-25 21:52.
DCA Effectiveness
Doctors from Medicor Cancer Centres (MCC) have introduced a DCA therapy and have published the observation data for 175 cancer patients. Using dichloroacetate (DCA), they have treated more than a quarter thousand cancer patients.
The data from their analysis is summarized below. While the data was gathered from the first 175 patients, it is, according to the doctors from MCC, very similar to the current results.
The doctors from MCC estimate that the organisms of 60 to 70% of their patients responded positively to DCA - the tumors shrank, the cancer marker reduced, the blood test improved, disease stabilized or there was a symptomatic improvement. In some cases, several of these responses were observed. In 30 to 40% of cases, there was no visible or unarguable improvement. Currently it is not possible to compare the results of these response rates to standardized chemotherapy treatments, because the group of patients treated with DCA is too small.
The doctors from MCC published several case reports on their site, describing in detail treatment of specific patients. They were chosen as a variety of responses to DCA treatment as well as forms of cancer and other therapies used apart from DCA. The doctors from MCC stress that these reports should not be used as a guide for self-medication.
Listed below are the detailed analyses of treatment data for patients treated with DCA in Medicor Cancer Centres (MCC). It is important to note that these data do not come from a clinical trial and may prove not be usable during such trials. It might be also helpful to mention that these data are not current now, over 250 patients have undergone DCA treatment, however the new results are very similar to those listed below.
It is very important to understand that all statements and claims mentioned below are that of the MCC researchers and doctors. They are based on their experience with treating patients with DCA.
DCA (dichloroacetate) has been used over a period of 1 year to treat 180 patients with cancer, who mostly exhausted all other methods of treatment. 52% of the patients were male and 48% were female. The patients were from 2 years to 90 years old, with the largest group of 56% ranging from 50 to 69 years of age. The forms of cancer ranging from lung (40 patients), brain (26), colon (25), breast (15) to pelvis (1), spine (1) and thyroid (1) cancers, to name just a few.
The dosage of DCA given to patients varied from 15mg/kg/day to 75mg/kg/day. The doctors from MCC put the average dosage of DCA at 25mg/kg/day. It should be mentioned that doses above 25/mg/kg/day make it more possible for side effects to appear. The case is different with children patients, however, because during lactic acidosis research, the younger patients could be treated with 50mg/kg/day with very limited side effects. Currently, the patients are treated for one to three weeks with dichloroacetate. DCA is not given to them in the week that follows. The exact number of days varies from patient to patient. None of the patients was denied using safe forms of treatment appropriate for their illness.
Half of the patients (90) has been evaluated. For them, the DCA treatment ranged from 4 to 30 weeks. There were three main reasons, why the other half (90) could not be a subject of evaluation.
52 of 90 unevaluated patients died due to reasons unrelated with DCA. The deceased patients were not evaluated, because the period of time, in which were treated with DCA was too short (i.e. less than 4 weeks).
38 unevaluated patients were treated with DCA for less than 4 weeks. When the data was published, 22 of them were still being treated and the remaining 16 stopped DCA treatment for several reasons - in two cases patients experienced confusion, a side effect of the treatment.
The remaining 90 patients were evaluated. In 54 cases (60%), there was a positive response to DCA. Tumors shrank in 10 cases (11%). Tumor markers were reduced for colon cancer (CEA), ovarian cancer (CA-125) and prostate cancer (PSA) in 5 cases (5,5%). During blood tests 7 patients (31%) showed improvement in hemoglobin, liver enzymes, albumin, or damage to the tissue and cancer activity were reduced. Symptoms have improved in 28 cases (31%) - the severity of pain decreased, patients gained weight, they felt relieved of bowel obstruction, their appetites and energy level improved. It is important to note that it is highly unlikely that placebo effect came into play, because the improvement of the symptoms remained for more than 4 weeks. In 36 cases (40%) cancer did not progress while the patients were treated with DCA. It should be also noted that dichloroacetate proved to be more effective with healthier patients. Nevertheless, DCA very often improves the patients quality of life, regardless of the progression stage of their cancers.
The remaining 36 patients (40%) could not be qualified as having positive response to DCA. In 30% (27 patients) there were symptoms of cancer progression in spite of DCA treatment. The remaining 10% (9 patients) showed no visible change (tumors were unmeasurable, no relevant tumor markers could be observed and blood tests did not bring any answers).
The table below lists the findings of the researchers from MCC in specific cases of lung, brain, colon, breast and ovarian cancers.
The table below lists the findings of the researchers from MCC in specific cases of lung, brain, colon, breast and ovarian cancers.
Type of cancer Number of patients Positive response No visible response No response
Non-small cell carcinomas (Lung Cancer) 19 10 (52%) 3 (16%) 6 (32%)
Gliomas (Brain Cancer) 15 11 (73%) 2 (13%) 2 (13%)
Colon Cancer 11 8 (73%) 0 (0%) 3 (27%)
Breast Cancer(MCC researchers advise to interpret these findings with caution) 15 71% No exact data. No exact data.
Ovarian Cancer(MCC researchers advise to interpret these findings with caution) 8 67% No exact data. No exact data.
Other Cancers 32 Similar percentage of responses. Similar percentage of responses. Similar percentage of responses.
When the data were published, 22 patients continued treatment, while the remaining 68 stopped it for various reasons. 7 of them experienced side effects or resigned for other non-medical reasons, 8 began another treatment, 10 were lost to follow-up, 21 found DCA not effective and 15 died. The MCC doctors noted that dichloroacetate needs time to work and end-stage patients often do not have enough time left. The duration of the treatment is based on several factors, which differ from patient to patient. Some patients may be treated with DCA even for over 6 months.
The reported side effects of DCA treatment included fatigue (19% of the patients), numbness (14%), confusion (12%), tremor (9%), sedation (3%), hallucinations (3%), leg weakness (1%) and heartburn (1%). 50% of the patients did not notice any side effects. The MCC doctors have found out that if patients take supplements, the chance of side effects appearing drops. By now it is unclear whether there are any long-term side effects of DCA treatment. Dichloroacetate (DCA) is not toxic, unlike commonly used chemotherapies. Because of the side effects, however, MCC scientists believe that it should be treated as a serious drug and the treatment should be controlled by a physician.
MCC scientists think DCA should be used to treat patients whose cancers keep progressing in spite of conventional treatment. There is a very high probability that dichloroacetate may be used to treat not only brain, breast and lung cancers, but also many other forms (a variety of cancers showed a 50-75% positive response). The doctors from MCC suggest that any person with cancer, who had exhausted all possible, currently available options of treatment, should contact a doctor to evaluate him or her on the possibility of DCA treatment.
At this time it is hard to predict the likelihood of a patient's response to DCA treatment. It is probable that a chemosensivity test (apart from DNA profiling) may be used as a guide. MCC doctors claim that mixing DCA treatment with chemotherapies is not a proper thing to do. However, it is possible if the chemotherapy seems to be failing or a ChemoFit test is performed first.
There has been a reported case of cancer with DCA resistance. Tumor connected with a breast cancer has shrunk during a several months period, but its size increased afterwards.
http://puredca.com/dca-effectiveness/
the true answer...... weed.
