Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers

  • Context: Medical 
  • Thread starter Thread starter bioquest
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the potential of dichloroacetate (DCA) as a treatment for cancer, exploring its efficacy, safety, and the implications of its use. Participants examine the claims made about DCA's ability to kill cancer cells and the reliability of the sources reporting on it.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express enthusiasm about DCA's potential to kill most cancers by switching off their “immortality,” questioning why more effort isn't being made to promote this information.
  • Others highlight the challenge of specifically targeting cancer cells, noting that many substances, including battery acid and household bleach, can kill cancer cells but are not viable treatments due to their indiscriminate nature.
  • A participant raises concerns about the reported side effects of DCA, such as pain, numbness, and gait disturbances, arguing that these effects contradict the notion of DCA being "safe."
  • Another participant mentions their connection to the research team at their university, suggesting that they have access to more current information about DCA's development.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the safety and efficacy of DCA as a cancer treatment. While some are optimistic about its potential, others raise significant concerns regarding its side effects and the reliability of the information presented.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions regarding the definitions of "safe" and "effective" in the context of DCA, as well as the implications of its side effects. The discussion also reflects a reliance on varying sources of information, which may affect the perceived credibility of the claims made.

bioquest
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Cheap, "safe" drug kills most cancers

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10971

Shouldn't we be trying to progress with this, get this information out there? Is it as good as it sounds?

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.
 
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The problem is usually targeting cancer cells - battery acid and household bleach also kill cancer cells!

Most treatments eg. chemo/radiation target fast growing cells. Cancer cells are fast growing pretty much by definition, unfortunately so are bone marrow.
 
This...
DCA can cause pain, numbness and gait disturbances in some patients
from the article does not suggest "safe."

That suggests some severe neurological side effects.

New Scientist is not a very reliable source of scientific reporting.
 
The people working on this are actually at my university (woot!) so every once in awhile I hear something about it.

You can take a look at this site to see where things currently stand :

http://www.depmed.uAlberta.ca/dca/
 
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