The path all Alternative medicine should take

[jboyhk]

To all those who say that alternative medicine's can't afford or can't whatever to do proper FDA clinical trials, here is one gleaming example.

Although past clinical trials have shown oral dosage of Vitamin C did nothing for cancer patients, they are looking at IV dosing.

FDA OKs trial on vitamin C for cancer
Cancer Treatment Centers runs research

Bruce Japsen
Published January 11, 2007


Adding more credibility to its research into alternative methods for oncologic medical care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America said it has won federal approval to begin a clinical trial studying the potential of intravenous vitamin C as a cancer treatment.

While winning U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin clinical trials is a regular occurrence for traditional cancer researchers such as the nation's elite comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute, Zion-based Cancer Treatment Centers is not known for conducting federally approved research--making the FDA-approved vitamin C trial a bit of a coup for the firm.

"Our vitamin C research protocol is the first investigator-initiated protocol approved by the FDA in the history of CTCA," said Christopher Lis, the firm's vice president of research and development. "We are now taking our research here to the next level."

Lis said there will be a limited number of patients who will actually receive the therapy. "Only patients who have exhausted all other conventional treatment options are eligible to receive the therapy," Lis added.

The first phase of the trial is to examine the "optimal therapeutic dose in a series of 18 patients" and largely see whether the treatment is safe and tolerable to patients. Additional studies will be needed that could take several years to show whether it is effective and could lead to FDA-approved treatment.

The FDA confirmed Cancer Treatment Centers' "investigational" new drug application but would not comment further.

Potential medical uses of vitamin C gained notoriety in the 1970s because of the efforts of researchers such as Nobel laureate Linus Pauling. But such research was not known to reveal successes or was not pursued long enough to result in standardized effective cancer treatments, say researchers such as Jeffrey Blumberg, professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Boston. In older studies the vitamin was taken orally.

Although early studies, conducted with orally dosed supplements, failed to demonstrate clinical benefit to cancer patients, hope still persists that vitamin C may be useful if administered correctly.

"I am not aware of anybody else now that is doing IV studies in patients with vitamin C to look at cancer effects," Blumberg said.

While cautioning that the research is early, Blumberg said vitamin C therapy could result in reducing side effects of chemotherapy or as a potential booster to existing treatments. He cautioned that it is too early to know.

"If this works, we would have a useful adjunct to chemotherapy treatment that could lower the dose," Blumberg said.

Cancer Treatment Centers' facilities differ from most cancer care centers in that they provide traditional inpatient and outpatient chemotherapy and surgical care as well as non-traditional services such as acupuncture, massage and nutrition therapies.

The privately held for-profit company has hospitals in Zion, Philadelphia and Tulsa, Okla.

[Forseegood]

so glad to see a post where I agree with you, for the most part, :) I know some people who've taken IV Vitamin C treatments by some holistic MD's here in CA, there are only about two who do this, to my knowledge...with some good results...and non-results..

[machineman1989]

Here in Florida they open competing drug stores right next to each other.
Tell me drugs are not one of the biggest scams going.