Mental HealthInoperable Colon Cancer Responds To New Treatment
With an extensive, inoperable colon cancer and few options available, a Tennessee patient is seeing his cancer steadily regressing on a new outpatient treatment. Individuals from 26 U.S. states and four other countries have been among the first to use NeoPlas Innovation"s new protocol. The Tennessee patient"s early results mirror their successes in battling colon cancer and other very aggressive malignancies.
The most recent colon cancer patient is a man in his late fifties who had an extensive cancer of the lower colon diagnosed in early 2008. Initially his doctors recommended surgical resection in an operation that would have removed all the organs of his lower abdomen and pelvis; however, it was determined that he would be unlikely to survive the procedure. Chemotherapy was tried, but was ineffective. He visited NeoPlas Innovation"s Nashville clinic in the spring of 2009 and began the new outpatient treatment.
Two months later, CT scans have shown that the cancer has regressed dramatically. The patient"s symptoms are resolving in step with the response, with improvements in appetite and digestion and the regaining of lost weight. NeoPlas Innovation Director of Research Dr. Stephen B. Cantrell commented, "These are results from one patient, so no conclusions can be drawn. But this is consistent with the favorable responses we"re seeing in the great majority of our patients, including those with colon cancer." The protocol is offered for qualifying patients with colon cancer, renal (kidney) cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, mesothelioma and certain sarcomas. It can be considered for other patients on a case-by-case basis.
The new treatment is an off-label combination of two existing medicines: lovastatin, typically used as a cholesterol lowering agent, and interferon. According to Dr. Cantrell, "The key to moving from the lab to success in humans has been taking a fresh look and finding the right medicines to combine. When we have administered a precisely timed regimen of low-dose interferon with lovastatin, the results have been surprising." NeoPlas Innovation patients often have seen the arrest of their cancers" growth and spread in as few as eight weeks of treatment. In many cases, such as this one, patients have experienced active regression of tumors.
The medicines used have the advantage of being safe and well tolerated. Fatigue is the most notable side effect of NeoPlas Innovation"s cancer treatment. Most patients never experience effects commonly affiliated with chemotherapy or radiation (nausea, vomiting, hair loss, bone marrow suppression or immune system suppression). An experienced physician prescribes and monitors the outpatient treatment.
NeoPlas Innovation"s web site, http://www.neoplas.org, provides complete information and an interactive screening tool for patients who are considering this treatment. The clinic can be reached at (615) 371-8100.
NeoPlas Innovation