Cure for Cancer??

[Inferno]

Ok, I was browsing on a site and happened to come across this article. Apparently there is some underground drug that can treat cancer, and no one seems to know about it.

I'm not sure if it's real or not, but the details given seem like they might be true. Take a look.

Also note that the article states it gives recources to look up the data, but they aren't listed, I pulled it off of facebook.

[deathbringer]

I think we've had this before and it turned out to be a lie. Also i'm pretty sure Mitochondria have nothing at all to do with Apoptosis, it is mainly regulated by a gene called P53 identifying damage to DNA (ie from radiation, chemicals or simply mistakes in replication). In almost all cancers an error in P53 is found. Apoptosis can also be caused by signals from outside the cell (which are ignored by cancerous cells) and disconnection from the extra-cellular matrix

[Sharessa]

The ambrosia vaccine!

[printz]

Inferno, you looked for this site? http://www.studentprintz.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=c7794f20-dfb1-4494-892d-b529895da103
It has the links. Though the dichloroacetic acid is something extremely simple.

[Lüt]

Calling all Bloodshedder to thread 40198. For duty and humanity.

[Dr. Zin]

Cancer cells don't use the little power stations found in most human cells - the mitochondria. Instead, they use glycolysis, which is less effective and more wasteful.

Doctors have long believed the reason for this is because the mitochondria were damaged somehow. But, it turns out the mitochondria were just dormant, and DCA starts them back up again.

The side effect of this is it also reactivates a process called apoptosis. You see, mitochondria contain an all-too-important self-destruct button that can't be pressed in cancer cells. Without it, tumors grow larger as cells refuse to be extinguished. Fully functioning mitochondria, thanks to DCA, can once again die.

With glycolysis turned off, the body produces less lactic acid, so the bad tissue around cancer cells doesn't break down and seed new tumors.

As a Bio major I can tell you this is bullshit. I don't know specifically about cancer, but I do have knowledge about normal cell respiration.

First of all, all cells perform glycolysis. It is the first step in respiration, where a glucose molecule is broken into two pyruvate molecules (and energizes a little bit of ATP). The pyruvate gets transferred to the mitochondria along with some Oxygen where it undergoes the Kreb's Cycle and Electron Transport Chain to energize a much larger quantity of ATP.

It appears that Glycolysis is getting confused with Anaerobic Respiration, in which Pyruvate is broken into Lactic Acid to energize a smaller amount of ATP without the use of Oxygen.

There also appears to be confusion between Mitochondria and Lysosomes. Mitochondria are organelles that process pyruvate to energize ATP. Lysosomes are essentially organelles containing caustic chemicals and enzymes used in the breaking down of material inside the cell, like old organelles and captured bacteria (in the case of white blood cells). The Lysosomes also release all their chemicals for Apoptosis, terminating the cell.

It is fairly obvious that the writer doesn't know the actual biology of cancer, seeming to confuse a genetic defect with a metabolic ailment. Basically cancer is when a cell does not terminate itself at the proper time. All cells have a certain tag at the end of a DNA strand that gets shortened everytime the DNA is used for transcription, called Telomerase. When these ends get too short the cell deconstructs itself. Telomerase can be renewed, but eventually the cell will die. Cancer is caused with a cell continually keeps renewing its Telomerase and replicating, created a mass of "immortal" cells that begin to invade other tissues.

Essentially this site doesn't know what the hell it is talking about, like someone used Wikipedia to create a conspiracy theory. It confuses Glycolysis and Anaerobic Respiration, Mitochondria and Lysosomes, and metabolic function with the causes of cancer. In other words, just another conspiracy theory.

[deathbringer]

Dr Zin said what i would have said had i paid attention in any lectures at Uni... i knew it was BS but didnt quite know how to arrange the facts in my mind to say it was

[Antidote]

I heard about his awhile back, a news article appropriately named "News that should be news, but isn't" or something. It said something about vinegar, chlorine and water or something to that extant.

[jallamann]

somehow I doubt a new placebo will cure real diseases.

[Inferno]

Printz, I pulled it off of a comment on Facebook, so I didn't exactly go looking for it. But this does look like the site the article was from, thanks for the link.

Also deathbringer and Dr. Zin, thank you very much for clearing this up. I myself am a Bio major and I'm sort of familiar with cell activity, but because I'm a Freshman in college I don't have an extensive knowledge on this. Honestly, you guys give a better lecture than my professor.

I probably should do more studying though. I rarely read my bio text book, not very smart to do.