http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homeopathy-offers-treatment-for-breast-cancer.html
by Christine Breen Williams, ISHom, Co-Editor of Homeopathy on Allthingshealing.com
A landmark paper on the use of homeopathy
in cancer appeared in the February 2010 issue of the International
Journal of Oncology. The paper reported on a study of four homeopathic
remedies that showed positive results using homeopathic remedies and
thereby opening the door to the possibility of using homeopathy for breast cancer treatment.
Skeptics May Have to Rethink Their Opinions–Homeopathy May Really Work
The study caused the scientific community to take a second look at the positive effects using homeopathic medicine
(called remedies by homeopaths) in the treatment of some illnesses.
There was a huge outcry against the results of the study because the
authors of the report stated that, “The remedies exerted preferential
cytotoxic effects against the two breast cancer cell lines, causing cell
cycle delay/arrest and apoptosis.” While not exactly treating women
with breast cancer, their study demonstrated the possibility of
eliminating breast cancer cells with homeopathic treatment.
Apoptosis Induced by Homeopathic Medicines is a Good Result
Apoptosis, a cellular phenomenon, is “programmed cell death (PCD),” also
known as cell suicide. It does not involve damage to the organism as
with necrosis. Basically, during apoptosis the cell shrinks without
causing inflammation
to the surrounding tissue. The scientists, led by Moshe Frenkel, MD, a
professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, “studied four ultra-diluted
remedies (Carcinosin, Phytolacca, Conium and Thuja) against two human
breast adenocarcinoma cell lines,” and found “cell cycle delay/arrest
and apoptosis.”
U.S. News & World Report Awarded M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as the Best Hospital
The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas is still the top
hospital in the US–ahead of Sloan-Kettering in NYC and Johns Hopkins in
Baltimore–for research and treatment of patients with cancer. (See U.S.
News & Report for 2010-2011 list of best hospitals.) Dr. Moshe
Frenkel is quoted as saying, “This is the first scientific study that
investigated the effect of homeopathic remedies on breast cancer cells.”
He further explains the significance as an “exciting possibility”
because of the “therapeutic opportunity for preferentially eliminating
breast cancer cells with minimal damage to the surrounding normal
mammary tissue by using homeopathic remedies.”
According to the European Council of Classical Homeopathy, which
reported the study to the homeopathic community, “The strongest effects
were found from Carcinosin and Phytolacca, remedies that are well
documented in the homeopathic literature for their beneficial effects in
patients with cancer.”
Banerji Protocols on the Treatment of Cancer with Homeopathic Remedies
The researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center had decided to
investigate homeopathic remedies because of the promising results of a
previous report based on work done by Dr. Banerji in Kolkata, India. The
US National Cancer Institute (NCI) evaluated a cancer treatment
protocol developed by Dr. Banerji in his clinic at the Homeopathic
Research Foundation (PBHRF). The “Banerji protocols” use homeopathic
medicines to treat patients suffering with cancers. The NCI, after
reviewing the progress of the patients, confirmed that there was enough
positive response to support the call for further research into the area
of homeopathic treatment of cancer.
A Team of Researchers Decided to Evaluate the In-Vitro Effect of Four Homeopathic Remedies
The results of the “protocols” developed by Dr. Banerji and reported by
the NIC were sufficiently impressive that the researchers at M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center decided to study the breast cancer cells of women
with advanced breast cancer and found equally impressive positive
results using homeopathic medicine. Dr. Frenkel has said on his website
that the homeopathic remedies, “appeared to have similar activity to the
activity of paclitaxel (Taxol), the most commonly used chemotherapeutic
drug for breast cancer, without the toxic effect on the normal cells.”
Summary
The study demonstrated that four homeopathic medicines had a positive
effect on ‘eliminating’ breast cancer cells in cell lines in a
laboratory setting. The study did not include women with breast cancer.
Before supporters of evidence-based medicine can be persuaded to accept
homeopathy as a treatment for breast cancer, many more studies would
need to be conclusive. Although classical homeopaths themselves might
treat a woman with breast cancer with, for example, Thuja, or
Phytolacca, this prescription would only result from a thorough
case-taking and case-analysis. Classical homeopathy treats the whole
person, not just one part.
