Cancer society warns of untested drug

From CBC News:
The Canadian Cancer Society is warning people not to self-medicate with the cheap, widely available drug known as DCA.

Dichloroacetate is a drug used to treat lactic acid buildup in children as well as people with diabetes and AIDS — conditions that differ from cancer.

The drug has shown promise as a cancer treatment in studies on rats but it has never been tested on human cancer patients.

Heather Logan, the director of cancer control policy at the society who trained as a nurse, has worked with people fighting to prolong their lives. Logan said she sympathizes with those who are buying the drug and mixing it at home as a last resort, but stresses there are serious safety concerns. ...more

U.S. bureau looking into unapproved cancer drug

From the National Post:
The fraud division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is looking into concerns that an American entrepreneur and chemist are selling an unapproved compound to people fighting cancer.

The FDA wouldn't say if there is an actual investigation into the buydca.com Web site, but in general, if the agency learns about something unsafe or illegal, it moves swiftly to take action and protect the public. ...more

Patients 'desperate' for drugs

From the Edmonton Sun:
Desperate cancer patients are using the Internet to buy an experimental anti-cancer medicine intended for animals and self-medicating - despite stern warnings from medical professionals.

"It's a fool's game, but terminal cancer patients can be desperate, grasping at whatever straws are there," said Dr. Louis Francescutti, a local emergency room physician and injury prevention expert. ...more

Pharmacy ordered to stop selling compound

This is a fascinating ethical and practice debate question. How inappropriate is it to fill this prescription? How much latitude should be given when a dying patient makes a very unusual request? While the registrar of the Alberta College of Pharmacists said they would be looking into this case, I have a hard time believing this pharmacist will be seriously punished for his actions. He was trying to do the right thing for his patients, and he has now stopped filling these prescriptions.

From the Edmonton Journal:
An Edmonton pharmacist who previously filled doctor-written prescriptions for dichloroacetate (DCA) said he disagrees with the medical researcher who warned him this week to stop selling the compound to cancer patients.

Ron Marcinkoski, a pharmacist at Market Drugs Medical at 97th Street and 102nd Avenue, said he was doing what he could to help cancer patients when University of Alberta professor Dr. Evangelos Michelakis phoned the pharmacy to say DCA, which shrank tumours in rats but hasn't been tested in humans, could be lethal or cause horrible side-effects. ...more