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THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (05/04/03)

 

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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. Weekly CancerDecisions.com

Newsletter #82 05/04/03

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Scientists Identify Stem Cells

As Hidden Cause of Cancer, Part 2

 

 

 

As I discussed last week, Michigan scientists recently

announced that a malignant form of stem cells may be

responsible for the development of breast cancer.

According to a University of Michigan press release,

their new understanding is " a paradigm shift in cancer

research, " and the University has promised to raise

$12 million to investigate this concept.

 

 

But actually this research has very old antecedents. In

1902, Prof. John Beard of Edinburgh first proposed

" germ cells " as the ultimate cause of cancer. These

germ cells, he said, were in a sense capable of giving

rise to other types of differentiated cells found in an

organism. In 1998, mainstream scientists made a huge

leap in understanding cancer when they discovered (and

patented) embryonic stem cells (ESC). They did not

reference Beard in their paper, but they used the term

" totipotent " that had often been applied to describe

germ cells, meaning that they were capable of

developing into any other tissue.

 

 

As in the recent Michigan finding, Beard described

these aberrant germ cells as a tiny minority of cells

with enormous power that are present in a larger mass

of reactive tissue. He actually saw these cells in

fishes and reptiles and then speculated on their

presence in human tissue as well. From their presumed

presence in malignant tissue, Beard came to the

conclusion that cancer was in essence a single disease

which had many manifestations. (A comparable phenomenon

would be syphilis, which can manifest itself so

differently in so many different organs that it has

been called the " great impostor. " ) From this point of

view, the many and varied characteristics of each kind

of cancer are due to the interaction of truly malignant

cells with neighboring, normal cells and the reaction

of surrounding tissues. This takes place under the

influence of hormones and cytokines within the

microenvironment of each particular organ or tissue.

But, according to Beard's theory, the fundamental

origin is almost always the same, i.e., it is

trophoblastic in nature.

 

 

To view a diagram of the development of stem cells

click or go to:

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/images/cells0.gif

 

 

Beard said that the first step on the road to cancer

occurred when germ cells differentiated into

trophoblasts and somatic cells. When that happens in

the course of embryo formation, it is necessary and

normal. However, when such a process occurs outside the

course of pregnancy, the result is what we call cancer.

 

 

There are many points of similarity or identity between

trophoblasts and cancer cells. As I discussed in last

week's newsletter, it has been found that the truly

dangerous and malignant portions of breast tumors have

a unique configuration of surface markers: all express

a protein marker called CD44, in addition to having

either very low levels, or no levels, of another marker

called CD24. But in a 1996 article, Israeli scientists

demonstrated that CD44 surface markers are also found

on trophoblasts. " In this study we found human

trophoblasts, for the first time, to express CD44, " Dr.

Ran Goshen and his colleagues at the Hebrew University

in Jerusalem wrote. " Intermediate trophoblasts of the

first and second trimester exhibited the standard form

of CD44.... " So here is another important confirmation

of the trophoblast-cancer link.

 

 

Looked at from a Beardian perspective this uniformity

is not surprising. Nor is the fact that the same

markers are found in cancers as disparate as leukemia

and breast cancer. One can predict that they will now

be found in many other cancer types as well. It also

helped confirm Beard's theory when modern scientists

announced that human embryonic stem cells (ESCs)

produce and release the hCG hormone.

 

 

As I wrote last year on the 100th anniversary of

Beard's discovery, the relationship between Beard's

germ cells and contemporary totipotent stem cells

deserves further study. More and more, trophoblast and

cancer look like two names for the same general

phenomenon. Further research will hopefully lead to a

revived interest in Beard's contribution, and an

incorporation of his powerful ideas into contemporary

stem cell research.

 

 

 

Implications for Treatment

 

 

 

It is understandable that U-M scientists, excited by

their important findings, would think that an answer to

cancer lies in their newly isolated cancer stem cells.

The University of Michigan has in fact filed a patent

on Dr. Clarke's discovery of stem cells in cancer and

Dr. Clarke and his colleagues have also formed a new

company called Cancer Stem Cell Genomics (CSCG) to

develop and test new therapies to destroy or disable

these cells. Dr. Wicha has said that " now that we can

actually identify [the cancerous stem cells], we can

start developing treatments to specifically target and

hopefully eliminate them. "

 

 

Naturally, I wish them good luck. However, judging from

Beard's pioneering work, they may find that there is a

missing link in this process. In Beardian terms, the

stem cell is like a loaded gun. In and of itself it is

not the cause of cancer. What 'pulls the trigger' is

the differentiation of the tumor's stem cell into a

malignant component of cells that are trophoblast-like

in their nature.

 

 

In February 1905, Beard theorized that " the secretion

of that important digestive gland, the pancreas, " could

be employed as a natural form of cancer treatment. The

first evidence that injections of the pancreatic

proteolytic enzyme trypsin did indeed kill cancer cells

was published within the following year. In later

years, Beard also turned his attention to the

carbohydrate digesting enzyme, amylase (which is

sometimes overlooked in contemporary enzyme

preparations).

 

 

In fact, the therapeutic use of pancreatic enzymes

flows effortlessly from recognition of cancer as a

trophoblast. Beard's reasoning on the subject was as

follows. The trophoblast itself is extremely dangerous

when it occurs outside the normal placenta. If it

overgrows, it forms a kind of cancer called

'choriocarcinoma.' This is a dreaded malignant

pregnancy, which (before the introduction of

chemotherapy) resulted in the rapid death of both the

mother and her fetus. However, Beard said, on the 56th

day of gestation the human trophoblast normally stops

its progression. What happens on that fateful day? The

fetal pancreas starts producing juices containing

pancreatic enzymes. Since the fetus doesn't have, or

need, a functioning digestive system that early in its

development (since all nutrients come to it from the

mother, through the umbilical cord) these enzymes have

to have another function. Beard's conclusion was that

pancreatic enzymes, in addition to their obvious

digestive role, also play a role in " digesting "

trophoblasts or (later in life) trophoblast-like cancer

cells.

 

 

In 1911, Beard published his only book, The Enzyme

Treatment of Cancer and Its Scientific Basis. His

ideas generated considerable attention at the time. The

Encyclopedia Britannica (1911) noted:

 

 

" Then we have Beard's 'germ-cell' hypothesis, in which

he holds that many of the germ-cells in the growing

embryo fail to reach their proper position--the

generative areas--and settle down and become quiescent

in some somatic tissue of the embryo. They may at some

later date become active in some way, and so give rise

to a cellular proliferation that may imitate the

structure in which they grow, so giving rise to new

growths. "

 

 

Beard based his claims not just on laboratory work but

on several cases of apparent remission that followed

treatment with enzymes. In March 1909, his friend,

Captain F. W. Lambelle, MD, then at the Military

Hospital in York, treated an ex-drummer of the West

Yorkshire Regiment who had a metastatic sarcoma of the

left upper jaw. Lambelle gave the man 120 injections of

pancreatic enzymes. By the following year, the

ex-drummer had completely sloughed off the cancer and

remained cancer-free for at least two years. Another

cancer - this time a case of breast cancer - was also

successfully treated.

 

 

However, other physicians were unable to consistently

reproduce this work. There were " countless failures, "

as Beard himself admitted. He believed, with some

justification, that commercially available enzymes were

of variable quality, and that inadequate doses had

often been administered to patients. Due to the lack

of reproducible results, interest in his ideas fell

away. He died in 1924, a disappointed man. A lifelong

bachelor, he left no progeny nor any personal

information beyond what can be gleaned from his

scientific writings.

 

 

Beard's ideas fell out of fashion for many years. But

they are no longer entirely strange to the medical

establishment. Because of the pioneering work of

Nicholas J. Gonzalez, MD, of New York City, the

National Institutes of Health (NIH) has invested $1.4

million in an ongoing clinical trial at Columbia

University of an enzyme-based regimen as a treatment

for advanced pancreatic cancer. One senses that some of

the brightest minds in both academic and integrative

medicine are converging on a point that will offer

tremendous insight and hope in the struggle against

cancer.

 

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

 

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Acknowledgement: My thanks to Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez,

Dr. Michael Clarke and Robert Scott Cathey for helpful

comments. Needless to say, any remaining errors are

entirely my own.

 

 

Note: If you want to learn more about this topic, in

1998, I spoke at a session of the Comprehensive Cancer

Care conference with Drs. Acevedo, Regelson and

Gonzalez. This session is available online at:

http://www.cmbm.org/conferences/ccc98/transcripts/205.html

 

 

For more articles on the 100th anniversary of Beard's

theory, see:

 

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/062602_page.html

 

and

 

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/070202.html

 

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If you are interested in learning about the best

currently available conventional and alternative

treatments for a particular kind of cancer, please

consider buying one of our detailed Moss Reports.

Call us at 1-800-980-1234 or visit our website at

www.cancerdecisions.com

 

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References:

 

 

Al-Hajj M, et al. From the cover: prospective identification

of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S

A. 2003 Apr 1;100(7):3983-8.

 

University newsletter:

http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2003/tumorsc.htm

 

Steinberg D. Stem cell discoveries stir debate. The

Scientist 2000;14:1. Accessed at

http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2000/nov/steinberg_p1_001113.html.

 

Thomson JL, et al. Embryonic stem cell lines derived from

human blastocysts. Science 1998;282:1145-7.

 

Goshen R, et al. Hyaluronan, CD44 and its variant exons in

human trophoblast invasion and placental angiogenesis. Mol

Hum Reprod. 1996;2:685-91.

 

U.S. Patent No. 5,843,780, " Primate embryonic stem cells " ;

accessible at www.uspto.gov.

 

Beard J. Embryological aspects and etiology of carcinoma.

Lancet 1902;1:1758.

 

Beard J. The Enzyme Treatment of Cancer. London: Chatto &

Windus, 1911.

 

Acevedo HF, et al. Detection of membrane-associated human

chorionic gonadotropin and its subunits on human cultured

cancer cells of the nervous system. Cancer Detect Prev.

1997;21(4):295-303.

 

Acevedo HF and Hartsock RJ. Metastatic phenotype correlates

with high expression of membrane-associated complete

beta-human chorionic gonadotropin in vivo. Cancer. 1996 Dec

1;78(11):2388-99.

 

Acevedo HF, et al. Human chorionic gonadotropin-beta subunit

gene expression in cultured human fetal and cancer cells of

different types and origins. Cancer. 1995 Oct 15;76(8):1467-75.

 

Regelson W. Have we found the " definitive cancer biomarker " ?

The diagnostic and therapeutic implications of human

chorionic gonadotropin-beta expression as a key to

malignancy. Cancer. 1995;76:1299-301.

 

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

 

 

The news and other items in this newsletter are

intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in

this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for

professional medical advice.

 

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