Fwd: THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (10/24/03)

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Sat, 25 Oct 2003 21:44:12 -0400 (EDT)

 

THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (10/24/03)

 

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

Newsletter #105 10/24/03

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A FRIENDLY SKEPTIC LOOKS AT POLYMVA, PART TWO

 

 

 

Last week I reported on the emergence of PolyMVA as a

popular " alternative " treatment for cancer. At a

website devoted to the topic (www.polymvasurvivors.com)

there are many anecdotes supposedly proving its

benefits for cancer patients. In discussing these

cases, I am simply summarizing the anecdotes as given.

I have not independently verified their accuracy.

 

 

Patient #1. A 75-year-old female with glioblastoma (an

aggressive form of brain cancer) presented with

history of debulking surgeries and two rounds of

radiation. As a last resort her cancer center

neurologist placed her on massive, experimental doses

of tamoxifen. She then entered an unspecified hospital

in Baja California. At the time of admission, she

required support on both arms to walk up the short

ramp, her memory was impaired and her speech was

slurred. Convulsions were being kept under control with

dilantin. On the third day after beginning treatment

with PolyMVA, we are told, her memory improved and her

slurred speech became clearer. " She walked out of the

hospital unaided to continue therapy at home, " the

website continues, and she lived a further six months.

Her death, we are told, " is attributable to the side

effects of the tamoxifen which she continued to take "

before and after PolyMVA.

 

 

This report strikes me as - let me be generous -

uninterpretable. Many patients experience temporary

improvements in well being when they begin new

regimens. The improvement in memory and speech may or

may not have been due to PolyMVA or to anything else

she received at this unspecified Baja California

clinic. It is also highly unlikely that this woman's

death could be attributed to the side effects of

tamoxifen. In the long-term, tamoxifen may cause

serious side effects, such as a heightened risk of

endometrial cancer, but there is no indication that

this woman developed that condition, and in the absence

of an autopsy report her death cannot be attributed so

unequivocally to this standard drug. It is much more

likely that she died of her glioblastoma, despite

taking various drugs, including PolyMVA.

 

 

Patient #2. This account is again reproduced from the

www.polymvasurvivors.com website: " Glioblastoma

patients usually have a dramatic, early response

similar to Mr. D. age 66, " we are told. " His tumor

inactivated his right leg and foot and caused

generalized convulsions which were poorly controlled by

tegretol, or dilantin. I received a phone call from Mr.

D. four days after he began LAPd [i.e. PolyMVA]. He

said his paralysis was gone and he could walk outside

and water the lawn and ride his stationary bicycle.

Eight days after beginning he called again to report

that his convulsions were now localized and almost

gone. " End of anecdote. Who is the person reporting

this? We aren't told. And what happened to Mr. D? We

don't have any report beyond the first eight days of

treatment.

 

 

Patient #3. " Pain from metastatic breast cancer, to the

spine and right hip in CF age 56 required a right hip

replacement which gave relief from hip pain, but did

not effect [sic] the spine. She started LAPd and within

2 weeks her 'back pain stopped' and she returned to her

legal research employment. Most breast cancer patients

report at least temporary improvement. "

 

 

Again, no report beyond a scant two weeks. The woman's

pain may have returned with a vengeance on day 15, for

all we know. No information was supplied on what

ultimately happened to this patient.

 

 

Patients #4 and #5. " Two cases of cancer of esophagus:

Both required MS [morphine sulfate, ed.] for pain

relief, both were cachectic [wasting away, ed.]. Both

were terminal when they started LAPd. Mr. G. age 62 was

in a Mexican hospital when he was scheduled to begin

the LAPd. LS age 45 took the LAPd for home use. Mr. G

died within 6 weeks, but an investigation uncovered the

fact hat he was never given the LAPd. He was given

Laetril [sic] alone. LS reported increased strength and

weight gain and is still living (2 years from starting

LAPd). "

 

 

Obviously, patient #4 should not be included in any

best case series, since he didn't receive the drug in

question. Patient #5, L.S., is much more interesting,

however. Two years survival with stage IV (cachectic)

esophageal cancer is very unusual. But we need to know

much more about this case before we can express an

opinion, let alone draw conclusions about the role of

PolyMVA.

 

 

Patient #6. An Alaskan woman who was diagnosed in April

1995 with multiple myleoma. She sent the webmaster a

letter in March 1997 saying that after taking PolyMVA

her blood tests and examinations showed " no measurable

signs of multiple myeloma " and her doctors said she was

in total remission. In 2002, she reported that she was

beginning her seventh year in remission. " I have no

signs of any cancer and feel very well, " she reputedly

wrote. " I am very grateful and hope to carry on this

way for many years to come. "

 

 

If confirmed, this could be a significant case, since

protracted remissions in multiple myeloma are rare.

However, readers should be aware that there is a form

of the disease called " smoldering myeloma, " in which

remissions do occur and survival can be lengthy. We

would need to verify the diagnosis and particularly to

rule out the possibility that patient #6 had this form

of the disease before drawing any conclusions about the

contribution of PolyMVA.

 

 

There is also a fairly extensive section of

self-described " testimonials " at this site. These are

of variable quality. Patients and their loved ones get

to tell their own stories, which may be salutary for

them. But these anecdotes are sometimes confused and

lacking in relevant details. Here is one representative

quote from the daughter of a patient: " I lived abroad

for many years in a country awash in superstition. I am

superstitious, in a universal and spiritual sense and

will not venture to put into words, what has

transpired. Nor will I make mention of my father's

name. Let it suffice to say that…Poly MVA was God's way

of intervening. " Hard to draw firm conclusions from

that!

 

 

What is conspicuously lacking overall is any genuine

scientific support for this treatment. In a recent

email Dr Garnett informed me that he intends to

initiate clinical trials with PolyMVA in India sometime

next year. I look forward to seeing the results when

they are published. However, there are already over 14

million journal citations, dating back to the 1950s,

listed in PubMed, the National Library of Medicine's

encyclopedic medical database. Over 1.5 million of

these articles are specifically on the topic of cancer.

As a point of reference there are over 4,000 articles

on the mineral palladium in biomedicine.

 

 

How many of these articles are on PolyMVA? Zero.

Polydox? Zero. LAPd? Zero. I can find no record of it

at all in the medical literature. Dr. Garnett has been

researching cancer for 40 years and has focused on

PolyMVA for the last dozen or so. He is the author of

half a dozen or so scientific papers (see references

below). Yet I could find no scientific articles by Dr.

Garnett or anyone else on the clinical effects of

PolyMVA. The scientific cupboard is bare.

 

 

I am familiar with all the obstacles that exist for

publishing innovative medical work. Indeed, a dozen

years ago it was very difficult to get a serious

hearing anywhere for innovative cancer treatments. But

today that situation has dramatically changed. The US

government now spends almost $100 million per year

researching alternative medicine. Both the National

Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health

have offices whose charge is specifically to examine

such treatments. There are half a dozen peer-reviewed

journals that are eager to publish findings on

non-conventional approaches.

 

 

Publication in peer-reviewed journals is the accepted

meeting ground of science: most genuine scientists try

extremely hard to put their research in front of their

peers. The conspicuous absence of peer-reviewed

research on PolyMVA is therefore inexplicable. If there

are really 300 physicians currently using PolyMVA

routinely in cancer treatment, as some of the drug's

proponents suggest, why has none of them published data

on the clinical benefits of the treatment? How could a

board-certified physician conclude that the " war on

cancer " has been successfully concluded through PolyMVA

and yet not explain the basis of that earthshaking

conclusion in a reputable medical journal?

 

 

Even though anecdotal evidence cannot take the place of

thorough clinical trials, such evidence is not entirely

without value as a tentative indicator of merit. It

might, for example, be worthwhile for PolyMVA

proponents to carefully sift through the many anecdotes

to put together a serious presentation to the Cancer

Advisory Panel on Complementary and Alternative

Medicine (CAP-CAM) of the National Institutes of

Health. That panel was set up, with great effort,

precisely to review claims of benefit from alternative

treatments. If there were still sufficient interest

after the presentation, this could lay the groundwork

for a proper clinical trial. Without even the most

basic scientific groundwork, however, the evidence for

PolyMVA's effectiveness remains flimsy at best.

 

 

I would also question that easy assumption that PolyMVA

is a " food supplement " and is therefore essentially

non-toxic. I am unaware of any reputable source that

considers palladium a necessary nutrient. Palladium is

widely used as a component of dental amalgam, and has

therefore come under scrutiny for its toxic potential.

A scientific paper from the Medical College of Georgia

School of Dentistry concluded that " there have been

recent controversies… over possible adverse biological

effects of using palladium in dental alloys. "

According to the paper, " in an ionic form and at

sufficiently high concentrations, palladium has toxic

and allergic effects on biological systems…The

carcinogenic potential of the palladium ion is still

unclear, although there is some evidence that it is

capable of acting as a mutagen " (Wataha 1996).

 

 

A more recent German review concludes: " A major source

of health concern is the sensitization risk of Pd

[palladium, ed.] as very low doses are sufficient to

cause allergic reactions in susceptible individuals.

Persons with known nickel allergy may be especially

susceptible….Pd salts … may cause primary skin and eye

irritations " (Kielhorn 2002).

 

 

Finally, the cost of PolyMVA is considerable: $330 for

an 8 ounce bottle, according to the www.polymva.com

website. This can add up. The recommended dose for

adult human patients with active cancer is 8 teaspoons

per day. At 6 teaspoons to the fluid ounce, the daily

dose is 1.3 ounces. A bottle will therefore last 6.15

days. If one took this agent for a year one would need

about 60 bottles, which would cost $19,800. Readers

with cancer would be well advised to save their money

and to look for more credible alternatives.

 

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

 

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References:

 

 

American Medicine and Research Center web site:

http://www.polymva.com

 

 

Sinatra S. Here's why some doctors don't get sick. In:

International Council for Health Freedom, Vol. VII, issue

3-4, Winter 2003/Spring 2004.

 

 

Garnett M and Krishnan CV. Pulsed electrospinning of

biopolymers. In Press: May 2002.

 

 

Garnett M and Remo JL. 200th Meeting of the Electrochemical

Society, No. 1132, September 2001.

 

 

Garnett M and Remo JL, DNA reductase: A synthetic enzyme

with opportunistic clinical activity against radiation

sickness., International Symposium on Applications of

Enzymes in Chemical and Biological Defense, Orlando, May

2001, p. 41.

 

 

Garnett M and Remo JL. Soluble sensors of telephonic

signals. Microfabricated Systems and Mems V, Proceedings

Vol. 2000-19, The Electrochemical Society, p. 185, October,

2000.

 

 

Garnett M. Palladium complexes and methods for using same in

the treatment of tumors, U.S. Patent no. 5,679,697, October

21, 1997.

 

 

Garnett M. Palladium complexes and methods for using same in

the treatment of psoriasis, U.S. Patent no. 5,776,973, July

7, 1998.

 

 

Garnett M. Thaw indicator device, U.S. Patent no. 4,051,804,

October 4, 1997.

 

 

Garnett M. Electrogenetic effect of a synthetic oxygen

carrier. Journal of Cell Biology, v.43,42a, November 1969.

 

 

Garnett M. A laboratory model for heterochromatin. Journal

of Cell Biology, v.35,44a, November 1967.

 

 

Kielhorn J, Melber C, Keller D, Mangelsdorf I. Palladium--a

review of exposure and effects to human health. Int J Hyg

Environ Health. 2002 Oct;205(6):417-32.

 

 

Dr. Taylor's license revocation:

http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQRYNA$LCEV2.QueryView?P_LICENSE_NUMBER=2817\

2 & P_LTE_ID=782

 

 

Wataha JC and Hanks CT. Biological effects of palladium and

risk of using palladium in dental casting alloys. J Oral Rehabil.

1996 May;23(5):309-20.

 

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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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