Yale doctors say herbal blend can
help cancer patients
Yale University, the Ivy League bastion of Western
science, is turning to ancient Chinese formulas to develop
new medicines for the 21st century.
Already physicians have demonstrated that an 1,800-year-old
Chinese recipe of four plants can apparently ease the
side effects of chemotherapy while boosting the healing
power of the anti-cancer drug.
These intriguing preliminary results must be expanded
and reconfirmed, doctors said, but a crucial principle
is clear - combinations of compounds could be the key
to treating a variety of intractable diseases.
Specifically, researchers believe that modernized "polychemical"
Chinese remedies hold hope for diseases like cancer,
Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Yale is among a handful of American institutions exploring
Chinese medicine and may be the closest to bringing
an FDA-approved drug into clinical use.
Yale scientists have established PhytoCeutica Inc.
in New Haven as a base of business operations and have
already developed a unique method to ensure chemically
consistent products.
The very antiquity of traditional Chinese medicine
supports its effectiveness, said Dr. Edward Chu, chief
of medical oncology at the Yale Cancer Center.
"Herbs have been used in the Orient for 2,000
years with clear efficacy. Experience was passed down
from generation to generation to generation. My great-grandfather
was a Chinese herbalist," Chu said.
Chu is internationally recognized for his research
on why abnormal cells proliferate and sprout into cancer.
He is currently studying novel treatments for colon
cancer.
Chu hopes to apply the same rigorous research methodology
on herbal medicines.
"The essence of Chinese medicine is multiple ingredients
and all are key. You may need two ingredients for efficacy
and two to prevent toxicity," he said.
This is more than mere theory. Chu and colleagues are
working on a traditional medicine that they call PHY906.
PHY906 interested Chu because the medicine is traditionally
used to ease gastrointestinal problems - the same kinds
that plague people receiving chemotherapy for colon
cancer.
Yale pharmacology professor Yung-Chi Cheng said the
research team does not want to reveal the mixture's
commercial name. This is because identically named products
from several sources may have completely different ingredients,
or may vary significantly from batch to batch.
In fact, Chinese medicine can only be integrated into
the modern system if the compounds are rigidly consistent,
Chu and Cheng said. And that is a whole challenge unto
itself.
"Modern medicine is only 50 years old, so there's
a big gap. You either deny the history or you take advantage
of its historical use," Cheng said.
Eventually, Chinese medicine will complement modern
medicine, he said.
Western physicians are suspicious of Chinese medicine
because it was developed empirically, rather than experimentally,
Cheng said.
"Even if you have a medicine that is evidence
based, if you can't make it consistent, the material
is not a medicine," Cheng said.
"If we can overcome those two issues, then Chinese
medicine may be useful for unmet clinical needs,"
he said.
Yale conducted a clinical test of PHY906 on patients
receiving chemotherapy. Out of 30 patients, 17 were
evaluated, Cheng said.
The patients experienced less vomiting, nausea and
diarrhea. And tumor progression was halted in all but
two patients.
"This is very encouraging. It is a preliminary
result," Cheng said.
Another study of PHY906 is under way on patients with
liver cancer at Yale and at the City of Hope National
Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
The mixture seems to aid chemotherapy by increasing
absorption in cells. PHY906 also apparently affects
a protein involved in regulating cell proliferation,
transformation and tumor development.
"This may be a totally novel way of treating diseases,"
Cheng said.
PHY906 contains 150 different chemicals, 90 of which
have been identified. Eight of the compounds seem essential
to the mixture's effectiveness.
The FDA has provisions to approve botanicals as prescription
drugs, and PHY906 is going through the conventional
testing process, he said.
"We want to shift the focus from single molecules
to collections of molecules to add a new level to Western
medicine,"said Robert Tilton, vice president of
science and technology at PhytoCeutica.
"In a way, we're rediscovering the past, but with
rigorous methodology," he said.
Source:www.wfsb.com
|
