THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (04/03/05)

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THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (04/03/05)

 

 

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

Newsletter #178 04/03/05

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THE MOSS REPORTS

 

 

In this week's and next week's newsletters I discuss research that

unexpectedly brings together an old-fashioned cottage garden favorite,

feverfew, and an equally old-fashioned – but suddenly highly topical and

increasingly plausible – theory of cancer's ultimate origin.

 

It has been said, humorously, that no scientific theory gains public

acceptance until it has been thoroughly discredited.

 

For almost a hundred years the ideas of the Scottish embryologist John

Beard concerning the origin of cancer have languished in the dusty

stack rooms of medical history, spurned by modern oncology in favor of

newer theories. But increasingly it is becoming apparent that long before

molecular biology was born, Beard may have hit upon a core truth.

 

In this week's newsletter I discuss new research that indicates that

stem cells may ultimately lie at the root of many kinds of cancer. While

Beard himself would not have been aware of the existence of stem cells,

his theory concerning the origins of cancer is remarkably compatible

with the concept of stem cells as the source of malignancy.

 

It is also curiously satisfying, in a way, that it should be an extract

of the humble feverfew that researchers have found to be lethal to the

malignant stem cells that cause acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The use of botanical extracts in medicine is as old as medicine itself,

and it is encouraging to see that their potential is once again being

harnessed for the benefit of cancer patients.

 

For thirty years I have been studying and writing about cancer

treatments, both conventional and alternative. The fruit of my long

career in

this field is The Moss Reports, a comprehensive library of more than two

hundred individual reports on specific cancer diagnoses. For cancer

patients, a Moss Report represents an invaluable guide and handbook for

the journey ahead.

 

If you would like to order a Moss Report for yourself or someone you

love, you can do so from our website, www.cancerdecisions.com, or by

calling Diane at 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US).

 

We look forward to helping you.

 

 

FEVERFEW AND CANCER, PART I

 

 

Many readers know the feverfew plant (Tanacetum parthenium), a member

of the Chrysanthemum family, sometimes called bachelor's buttons. This

is a cheerful-looking perennial, with a profusion of white pompon-like

blooms—like a shower of tiny daisies. Feverfew is often included in

mixed bouquets and, to me, is the essence of summer.

 

Others know this plant as a source of herbal relief. One traditional

usage, as a febrifuge (or fever-reducer) is apparent from its name. It is

also a well-known folk remedy for migraine. I keep a feverfew product

in my medicine chest, in anticipation of the summertime visits of a

friend who is prone to these massive headaches (Pfaffenrath 2002; Murphy

1988).

 

Now scientists at the Univeristy of Rochester Medical Center have found

that an extract of feverfew is effective against a type of human

leukemia. Monica L. Guzman, PhD, and Craig T. Jordan, PhD, report that

feverfew extracts kill malignant stem cells like no other single

therapy they

have tested. The active ingredient is derived from parthenolide, one of

a class of sesquiterpene lactones found in the plant. The US National

Cancer Institute is sufficiently excited by this work to have accepted

it into the rapid access program, which aims to move experimental drugs

from the laboratory to human clinical trials as quickly as possible.

 

" This research is a very important step in setting the stage for future

development of a new therapy for leukemia, " said Dr. Jordan. " We have

proof that we can kill leukemia stem cells with this type of agent, and

that is good news. "

 

 

A Focus on Stem Cells

 

 

What is particularly exciting is that this feverfew extract is the

first agent known to destroy myeloid leukemia at the level of the stem

cells. Increasingly, cancer research is homing in on these primordial

cells

as the source of cancer. This is the level at which malignancy is born,

and unless it is attacked at this level it can rarely be controlled,

much less cured.

 

In the 19th century there were many intimations that primitive cells,

called " embryonal rests, " were fundamentally connected with the

development of cancer. A high point came over a century ago, when

University of

Edinburgh, Scotland, embryologist John Beard, DSc (1858-1924) put

forward the theory that cancer was in fact caused by the malignant

transformation of what he called pluripotent germ cells. It now seems

almost

certain that Beard was giving an early description of stem cells and

their

propensity to undergo malignant change. Beard's idea was initially

greeted with interest, but was later marginalized, and finally all but

forgotten. However, his philosophy was kept alive through the work of

a few

maverick biologists, such as Ernst T. Krebs, Sr. and Jr., H.H. Beard,

William D. Kelley, DDS, and others.

 

Click or go to the following for information on Prof. John Beard:

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

 

In recent years, academic scientists have identified cancer stems cells

in blood cancers as well as in brain and breast tumors. The work of

Michael Clarke, MD, and his post-doctoral student, Mohammed Al-Hajj, PhD,

at the University of Michigan, has been particularly influential.

Clarke and Al-Hajj have shown that, contrary to what is generally

assumed,

not all tumor cells are equally capable of causing metastatic cancer. In

fact, they found that in experimental breast tumors only a tiny

fraction - less than one percent - of tumor cells are actually capable of

causing metastasis. These highly malignant cells are identifiable as stem

cells.

 

Click or go here for information on Dr. Clarke's work:

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/042603.html

 

Research in 2005 by JeanMarie Houghton, MD, PhD, of the University of

Massachusetts, Worcester, showed that in certain stomach cancers the

cells that initiate the malignancy originate not in the tissues of the

stomach itself, but are actually stem cells that have migrated there from

the bone marrow. The initiating event in this sequence is a low-grade

infection in the stomach, typically caused by Helicobacter pylori. Bone

marrow derived cells (BMDCs) are sent to the stomach in response to

this infection, as part of the body's attempt to heal itself. Once in the

stomach, BMDCs assume the characteristics of the surrounding tissues,

but under the influence of hormonal signals emitted by the inflamed

tissue, they undergo malignant change.

 

Click on or go to the following addresses for information on Dr.

Houghton's work:

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/022705.html

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/030605.html

 

TO BE CONCLUDED, WITH REFERENCES, NEXT WEEK.

 

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

 

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS

 

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.

 

Copyright © The Internet Society (2004). This document is subject to

the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except

as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

 

This document and the information contained herein are provided on an

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IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET

ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,

INCLUDING

BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN

WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF

MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

 

This document may not be modified, and derivative works of it may not

be created.

 

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