FOR ANYBODY INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE BOOK OF MARK J. PLOTKIN: MEDICINE QUEST–IN SEARCH OF NATURE’S HEALING SECRETS.
I WENT ONLY THROUGH A FEW CHAPTERS YET [LACK OF TIME].ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING AND “UNCREDIBLE”
[TRANSLATED ALSO IN DUTCH: NATUUR GENEEST]
SOME OF THE IDEAS ARE USED ALREADY FOR A 200 YEARS IN HOMEOPATHY.
How Animals Can Save Us: Creepy Crawly Healers (Part 2 of 3)
Ivanhoe Newswire — Modern surgeons are rediscovering the benefits of using leeches and maggots. Now, scientists are harnessing the paralyzing power of venom from some snakes, snails and scorpions to treat human disease. From desert predators to ocean creatures, scientists are uncovering unusual sources for new medicines.
Cancer patient Renee Relin says, how did they figure that you go from a sea squirt to a drug that s going to work on this specific, esoteric kind of cancer? She was diagnosed seven years ago with soft tissue sarcoma — a cancer that affects muscles and organs. When doctors discovered a third tumor, she volunteered for a clinical trial testing ET-743, a drug made from the toxins of a sea squirt.
When asked about the study s success rate, Harvard Medical School oncologist Bruce Chabner, M.D., says, about 10 percent of the patients respond, that is, the tumors shrink significantly. For Relin, it offered hope when there was none.
The Israeli yellow scorpion is the inspiration for another cancer drug, TM-601. This synthetic copy of the scorpions venom is helping patients with brain tumors.
There are a variety of compounds in nature which are known to specifically excite cells in very detailed ways, some of them being toxins that come from insects, snakes, things like that, says neurosurgeon Adam Mamelak, M.D., of City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, Calif.
A Brazilian pit viper s venom is used to make captopril, an FDA-approved drug that lowers blood pressure. ABT 594 is derived from the poisonous skin of a South American frog. It blocks pain 200-times better than morphine and is not addictive.
The poisonous cone snail also helps people with chronic pain. SNX-111 is a very promising drug. It has shown efficacy in patients where nothing else has worked, says Edgar Ross, M.D., an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital Pain Clinic in Boston.
Pharmacist Paul Doering, of University of Florida College of Pharmacy in Gainesville, advises patients considering venom therapy to proceed with extreme caution. He says, If we are talking about snake venom, the margin of safety may be quite narrow, and you may be thinking you are given a therapeutic dose, but it may turn out to be a toxic or deadly dose. It is a matter of balancing the benefits against the risks.
Doering also worries that long-term venom treatments could trigger life-threatening allergies. They are foreign substances to the human body, and the human body s goal is to recognize them as foreign and get them the heck out of the body.
Dr. Chabner, who studies the sea squirt drug, is more optimistic about the future of these therapies. He says, these marine organisms are very, very prolific and a good source of toxins for investigation. There are still huge numbers that could be collected and tested
Relin hopes scientists continue looking under the sea. Thank God for whoever is got the patience to keep trying on stuff, but I think it s phenomenal, she says. Since her first treatment, she has been cancer-free, and credits the sea squirt with giving her extra time with her two sons.
Doctors say the drug from the sea squirt looks most promising for ovarian cancer. This past summer, the FDA granted fast track status to TM-601, the scorpion-derived brain cancer drug. Fast track is designed to speed up the approval process and get breakthrough drugs to the market quickly.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Greg Hughes, Media Relations
City of Hope
ghughes@coh.org
