Experimental cancer treatments are medical therapies intended or claimed to treat cancer (see also tumor) by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy).

The entries listed below vary between theoretical therapies and treatments that will most likely become standard procedures within the next few years. Many of these treatments will only help against specific forms of cancer. It is not a list of treatments widely available at hospitals!

Contents

1 Angiostatic-based treatments 2 Bacterial treatments 3 Diet therapy 4 Insulin Potentiation Therapy 5 Fasting Therapy 6 Gene therapy 7 Thermal therapy 8 Complementary and alternative cancer treatment 9 External links

Angiostatic-based treatments

Every solid tumor (in contrast to liquid tumors like leukemia) needs to generate blood vessels to keep it alive once it reaches a certain size. Usually, blood vessels are not built elsewhere in an adult body unless tissue repair is actively in process. The anti-angiogenesis (angiostatic) agent endostatin and related chemicals can suppress the building of blood vessels, preventing the cancer from growing indefinitely. In tests with patients, the tumor became inactive and stayed that way even after the endostatin treatment was finished. The treatment has very few side effects but appears to have very limited selectivity. Other angiostatic agents like thalidomide and natural plant-based substances are being actively investigated.

Bacterial treatments

Chemotherapeutic drugs have a hard time penetrating tumors to kill them at their core because these cells may be dead or lack a good blood supply. Researchers have been using anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium novyi, to consume the interior of oxygen-poor tumours. These should then die when they come in contact with the tumour's oxygenated sides, meaning they would be harmless to the rest of the body. A major problem has been that bacteria don't consume all parts of the malignant tissue. However combining the therapy with chemotheraputic treatments has largely proven to solve this problem.

Diet therapy

Clinical experimentation by physician Max Gerson led to a therapy that is claimed to be successful in the treatment of advanced cancer, normalizing metabolism and helping the body's immune system act on cancer cells. It is a high potassium, low sodium (saltless) diet, with no fats or oils, and high in fresh raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. (See for instance the lecture [1] http://gerson-research.org/docs/GersonM-1978-1/ , and the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases, by Max Gerson, M.D.). Other scientists doubt the ability of these treatments to cure cancer, and point to the lack of detailed publication of their results ([2] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0961152621/ ).

Insulin Potentiation Therapy

In insulin potentiation therapy, low-dose insulin is given in conjunction with low-dose chemotherapy. It is claimed to be effective while dramatically reducing side effects.

Fasting Therapy

For whatever reason, long-term fasting has been known to work against malignant tumours. Studies to date are merely anecdotal.

Gene therapy

Introduction of tumor suppressor genes into rapidly dividing cells has been thought to slow down or arrest tumor growth. Another use of gene therapy is the introduction of enzymes into these cells that make them susceptible to particular chemotherapy agents; studies with introducing thymidine kinase in gliomas, making them susceptible to aciclovir, are in their experimental stage.

Thermal therapy

• MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS)
• microwave thermal therapy

Complementary and alternative cancer treatment

See main article: Complementary and alternative medicine

In the year 2000, the American Cancer Society published American Cancer Society's Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Methods. There are over 200 substances and therapies in this book, and while there is a varying degree of success with each of the methods, it appears that some of the techniques will work at times, however no technique will work in all situations, which, practitioners claim, is similar to the success rate of conventional techniques. Many of these treatements are similar to ancient ways of dealing with disease. According to practitioners of such techniques, various options are available to anyone who wants this information, however, they caution that discretion is advised no matter what methods a person chooses to pursue.

External links

• American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org
• National Cancer Institute http://www.nci.nih.gov