Fwd: THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (04/25/04)

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26 Apr 2004 07:30:19 -0000

" Cancer Decisions "

THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (04/25/04)

 

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

Newsletter #130 04/25/04

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REALITY-BASED INVESTIGATIONS

 

 

This week I analyze a Cuban remedy called Escozul. This product is based on the

venom of the blue scorpion and is attracting a growing amount of attention,

especially in Latin America. Medical opinion on this treatment is divided. Small

groups seem to think that it is a really valuable new medicine. Others reject it

with the same kind of knee-jerk reaction that many in orthodox medicine exhibit

towards all strange-sounding remedies.

 

Here at the Moss Reports our approach is different. We conduct reality-based

investigations, and look on all proposed treatments sympathetically, regardless

of how weird they sound. At the same time, we insist on scientific evidence for

claims of effectiveness, and look for solid proof, preferably in the form of

studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals, that treatments actually

extend the lives of human beings. Admittedly, investigating reports of new

treatments can be very difficult, especially when those treatments originate in

countries as hard to access as Cuba. But try we must.

 

Recently I read of a scientist who has proclaimed his refusal to seriously

investigate any new alternative treatments, on the grounds that all previous

investigations have failed to substantiate cures. Even if that were true (and it

is a substantial distortion of the facts) it would be an untenable position.

Every new treatment, alternative or conventional, deserves serious consideration

on its own merits. Dismissing all alternative treatments on account of a failure

to date to come up with any overwhelmingly positive results is a manifestation

of prejudice rather than rational thought, and it is a dangerous and unwelcome

development.

 

At the Moss Reports, we will continue to pursue our policy of " friendly

skepticism " towards all new treatments, including Escozul. Of course, hard

experience has taught us that many proposed innovations turn out to be based

more on wishful thinking than solid science. And, sadly, financial scams

sometimes masquerade as humanitarianism. But since most conventional treatments

for advanced cancer are also usually ineffective, the world desperately wants

and needs alternatives. For that reason, my staff and I will continue to

independently examine all alternatives with a friendly but skeptical eye.

 

I have written over 200 reports on various cancer diagnoses that pursue this

approach towards conventional, complementary and alternative treatments. These

are continually being updated with the latest research results. I also offer

personalized phone consultations to patients and their loved ones. To find out

more please visit our website, www.cancerdecisions.com, or call my office at

800-980-1234 (from abroad call 814-238-3367). We look forward to helping you.

 

 

A FRIENDLY SKEPTIC LOOKS AT ESCOZUL

 

 

Escozul is a folk remedy for cancer, made from the diluted venom of the

Caribbean blue scorpion (Rhopalurus junceus). Escozul is gaining popularity in

Cuba, its birthplace, and in many other countries as well. Since the early

1990s, even some US citizens have gone to that " forbidden island " for treatment

with this unusual substance, which was first developed in 1980 by a Guantanamo

province biologist, Misael Bordier. Some years ago, Bordier conceived the idea

of trying scorpion venom as a treatment for certain chronic conditions including

cancers of various kinds . It seemed to have good effects and word quickly

spread. Now many doctors in that area are said to frequently administer diluted

doses of the toxin by mouth to patients with malignancies, as well as to those

suffering from pelvic inflammation, renal failure, and Parkinson's disease.

(Although pure venom is harmful to humans, this product is reputedly non-toxic

when diluted and administered orally.)

 

Click or go to the following link for a picture of the blue scorpion, Rhopalurus

junceus:

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/images/r_junceus2.jpg

 

Some readers have asked me if there is any truth to the glowing reports that are

finding their way onto thousands of Web sites concerning its use as a cancer

treatment. My basic answer is that while it shows some promise, it is still a

very uncertain remedy. One should not abandon any well-documented therapy in

favor of undertaking a treatment about which so little is yet known.

 

Despite the fact that Cuba has a modern public health system, it is also a

country with an entrenched belief in folk medicine. Although surgery, radiation

and chemotherapy are provided free for all cancer patients, these treatments

have all the limitations there that they do in other countries. In Cuba, as

elsewhere, the public is on the lookout for safer and more efficacious

treatments for cancer.

 

I for one do not think it impossible that blue scorpion venom could have a

positive effect on some patients. There are over 100 articles in PubMed on the

examination of scorpion venom in basic cancer research. A Chinese group has

isolated neurotoxins from another species of scorpion, called Buthus Martensii,

that has both anticancer (Liu 2002) and immune stimulating effects (Yang 2000).

At the University of Alabama they have found that a scorpion product called

chlorotoxin specifically binds to the surface of brain cancer (glioma) cells and

impairs their ability to invade normal tissue (Deshane 2002). This is a very

promising finding. If venom can paralyze or kill normal cells, it can plausibly

do the same to malignant cells. But it needs emphasizing that none of the

articles currently in PubMed is a clinical study and none refers specifically to

the Cuban product Escozul. The jury is therefore still out on how useful this

treatment may ultimately prove.

 

Since the outset, educated opinion in Cuba has been divided on the topic of

Escozul. Some people considered the well-publicized reports of clinical benefit

to be merely wishful thinking. Another group considered Escozul an outright

fraud. A smaller group believed the treatment to be a " scientific challenge, "

according to the official Communist Party newspaper, Granma (January 16, 2003).

Among this latter group is an engineer named Omar Cantillo, a nuclear physicist

who has risen to be head of science and technology at the Ministry of Science,

Technology and the Environment. He has long been open-minded towards this new

treatment. According to Granma, a certificate of product registration has now

been awarded by the Cuban Office for Industrial Property, under Resolution

3136/99, and it is due to come into effect in 2005. The license describes this

by-product of scorpion venom as " an anti-carcinogenic component that has new,

inventive activity and application. " The remedy is also said

to have shown interesting results in HIV-AIDS patients who received it in

outpatient clinics at the University hospital in Mbarara, Uganda, where Cuban

physicians are working.

 

To date, more than 50,000 people in Cuba (an island of less than 12 million

people) have received Escozul. Pro rata, this would be equivalent to more than a

million Americans being treated with what is essentially an unproven remedy -

something that dwarfs any of the similar crazes that have occurred here.

Thousands more people in Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Argentina, the

Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and even the United States have now used

Escozul.

 

Bordier presented the remedy at the International Conference of Traditional

Medicine and Alternative Therapies, which took place in Mexico in 2001. He

toured the country giving speeches (PlanetSave.com 2001). According to Granma,

the Mexican press dedicated substantial space to revealing that 300 citizens of

the Federal District who were suffering from malignant abnormalities were

benefiting from the Cuban treatment, and reported Bordier's contributions to the

Forum.

 

The Cuban government itself seems well disposed towards the product (which,

incidentally, could bring in some desperately needed foreign exchange dollars).

" In the battle between the scorpion and the crab, " (i.e. cancer, ed.), " the

scorpion will win, " said Bordier.

 

(As an aside, it is encouraging that at least the scorpions are not killed in

the making of the medicine. Bordier keeps them in boxes filled with damp earth

and with an ample supply of the insects that they like to eat. Starting a year

after they are born he periodically extracts the poison from the scorpions by

applying a mild electric shock to the insects, causing them to release their

venom. This process is repeated about once every 20 days, after which the

scorpions are returned to their natural habitat. It is to be hoped that the

increasing popularity of this remedy will not result in the extinction of this

species, as unscrupulous operators begin seeking a slice of the profits.)

 

 

Lack of Knowledge

 

 

Superficially, at least, first reports about blue scorpion venom are

encouraging. The acquisition of reliable knowledge about Escozul is, however,

hampered by several formidable problems:

 

First is the US trade embargo on Cuba, which makes scientific communication and

exchange, as well as travel, difficult, if not impossible. We US citizens may be

missing out on more than Cuban cigars as a result of this embargo. It would seem

to be a matter of urgency for both the American and the Cuban government to find

out if Escozul really works. A sensible foreign policy would put aside political

differences in a co-operative search for a cure. Perhaps growing American

interest in Escozul will lead to a beneficial outcome in public policy. For now,

however, we are reduced to surfing the Internet, since direct contact is nearly

impossible.

 

Another problem is a lack of scientific publications, even in Spanish, on the

topic. Cuba has a sophisticated biotech industry that exports a variety of

medicines and diagnostics to more than 35 countries around the globe (Sunderland

2002). There is apparently no lack of capable researchers. But there is no

reference to Escozul per se in the standard database of medical journal

articles, PubMed, nor even an article on the blue scorpion from whose venom

Escozul is produced. If such research could not be published in the US due to

the trade embargo, there are certainly excellent non-US journals that would be

interested in such articles. But promoters of this treatment have seemingly not

been too inclined to communicate their findings in a rigorous way to biomedical

scientists around the world.

 

In my opinion, it is also foolhardy to treat 50,000 humans without first

conducting any potency standardization testing, laboratory and animal studies,

phase I-II studies in humans, and without any institutional review board (IRB)

ethical supervision of the project. The potential for harm is real, even if many

people anecdotally report that the treatment is non-toxic.

 

Meanwhile, it has to be said that the claims reported for the efficacy of

Escozul seem wildly exaggerated. Particularly disturbing are the assertions

(contained in several articles on the Internet) that the treatment was

successful in nearly 97 percent of patients who had not undergone previous

chemotherapy or surgery. It is not clear exactly what Bordier means by

" success. " According to a Mexican Web site:

 

" Cuban doctor Misael Bordier cautioned that while his patients were not cured of

their cancers when treated with the venom of the Escozul scorpion, '97 percent

of them experience improvements in their quality of life and see the size of

their tumours greatly reduced.' "

 

This would of course need to be carefully documented. Meanwhile, there is ample

reason to be skeptical. Over the years this type of sensational claim has been

made often, but has never panned out. In fact, as a general rule, the more

outrageous the claim, the more likely the treatment is to be a fraud. What

worries me most is that exaggerated claims for the phenomenal efficacy of

Escozul may present an irresistible attraction to many patients (especially the

less skeptical), prompting them to avoid the conventional treatment that is

being urged on them and to take this venom treatment instead. While I have

written often enough about the limitations of conventional therapy, we must also

recognize that avoiding treatment could be disastrous for someone who, for

example, has an operable tumor but refuses curative surgery in favor of an

uncertain venom treatment. One could easily imagine people dying as a result of

such a mistake.

 

 

A Remedy With a Sting in the Tail

 

 

According to another Internet article (by a Cuban journalist named Mar Marin),

among those who came to Dr. Bordier after surgery or chemotherapy, only 40

percent obtained good results with Escozul, and the mortality rate was 60

percent. " We don't know what causes the high mortality rate in these patients,

but we do know we've been able to improve the quality of life of every patient, "

Bordier is quoted as saying.

 

I am disturbed by this reported mortality rate of 60 percent among those who had

had prior conventional therapy. I am not sure what Dr. Bordier is trying to say

to here. Is he claiming that despite chemotherapy, 40 percent of the patients

were cured? Or is he alluding to some possibly harmful synergy when these two

approaches are combined, leading to a surprisingly high mortality rate?

 

Although in general I believe that conventional and alternative treatments can

be fruitfully integrated, we must never rule out the possibility that combining

various agents could actually be harmful to patients. Only carefully conducted -

and published - studies can answer these questions and yield dependable results.

No such studies have yet been done, and given the current political impasse it

may be difficult to arrange any studies that would convince both Cuban and

American experts. For the good of humanity, however, it would be worth trying.

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

 

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References:

 

 

Anonymous. Cuban experts research on scorpion venom against cancer - Escozul.

Havana Journal, n.d. Retrieved April 6, 2004 from:

http://havanajournal.com/culture_comments/P1024_0_3_0/

 

Anonymous. Venom to cure cancer? PlanetSave.com, November 20, 2001. Retrieved

April 6, 2004 from:

http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=1716

 

Deshane J, Garner CC, Sontheimer H. Chlorotoxin inhibits glioma cell invasion

via matrix metalloproteinase-2. J Biol Chem. 2003 Feb 7;278(6):4135-44. Epub

2002 Nov 25.

 

Liu YF, Hu J, Zhang JH, Wang SL, Wu CF. Isolation, purification, and N-terminal

partial sequence of an antitumor peptide from the venom of the Chinese scorpion

Buthus Martensii Karsch. Prep Biochem Biotechnol. 2002 Nov;32(4):317-27.

 

Marin, Mar. Blue scorpion venom: Cuban treatment. Retrieved April 5, 2004 from:

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/bluscorvencu.html

 

Sunderland, Anne. Cuban biotech -- threat or lesson? San Francisco Chronicle,

May 20, 2002. Retrieved April 7, 2004 from:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ffile=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/20/E\

D215972.DTL & type=tech

 

Yang JB, Li XW, Dong WH, Kong TH, Song HX, Zheng XY, Liu GT. [Effect of

anticancer polypeptide from Buthus Martensii venom on immune function in the

H22-bearing mice]. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2000 Dec;25(12):736-9.

 

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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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