Laetrile

​Laetrile/Vitamin B 17/Cyanide

Ann’s NOTE: I am active with the Cochrane Collaboration a worldwide volunteer network interested in Evidence-based Healthcare (which is composed of studies, physician expertise and patient experiences and preferences).

I found this review which clearly states that Laetrile has never been studied in a controlled trial and thus we do not know for certain whether it does or does not work. Yet it is presented as an absolute. We NEED studies of alternative treatments. No one wants to waste their (our) precious resources of time and money in the wrong direction. But how can we trust opinions, especially when people in the world of ‘integrative medicine’ are able to show beneficial outcomes? With that in mind, a patient advocate known to me personally sent the following:

February 2010: “I heard about this (Vitamin B17) and a patient who had lung cancer took this, I don’t know if he was cured, but I do know it helped him and prolonged his life.

Maybe this person is still alive, I don’t know. When I was involved in his treatment he lived for at least 3 years, after doctors give him a maximum of 6 months. I was his interpreter”. G.

Laetrile treatment for cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Milazzo S, Ernst E, Lejeune S, Schmidt K.

BACKGROUND: Laetrile is an unconventional therapy which has been used illegally for decades by cancer patients who together with some alternative therapists claim its effectiveness as an anti-cancer treatment. It has been often referred to as amygdalin, although the two are not the same.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review was to assess the alleged anti-cancer effect and the possible harms of Laetrile as a sole or adjunctive therapy in cancer treatment.

SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); MEDLINE (from 1951); EMBASE (from 1980); Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), Scirus, CancerLit, CINAHL (all from 1982); CAMbase (from 1998); the MetaRegister; the National Research Register and our own files. No language restrictions were imposed.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and non randomized controlled clinical trials (non-RCTs).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently assessed trials for inclusion in the review, assessed study quality and extracted data.

MAIN RESULTS: No RCTs or non-RCTs were found, so no abstraction of outcome data could be performed in this systematic review

AUTHORS’ CONCLUSIONS: The claim that Laetrile has beneficial effects for cancer patients is not supported by data from controlled clinical trials. This systematic review has clearly identified the need for randomised or controlled clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of Laetrile or amygdalin for cancer treatment.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Laetrile treatment for cancer. Laetrile is the name given to purified amygdalin, a chemical found in the nuts of many fruits such as peaches, bitter almond s and apricots. Laetrile has been widely used among cancer patients since the 1970s in the hope that it might stop or slow the process of the disease.

As there is uncertainty about whether Laetrile treatments work and there is also a risk of side effects from cyanide poisoning, the Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) in the US and European Commission have banned its use. However, it is still possible for anyone to buy Laetrile products illegally on the Internet.

As there is no government control on these preparations they may come from questionable sources and be contaminated. The most informative way to understand whether Laetrile is of any use for treatment for cancer, is to review clinical trials and scientific publications.

Unfortunately no studies were found that met the inclusion criteria for this review.

The authors suggest that controlled clinical trials should be considered in the future in order to assess whether Laetrile is effective in cancer care.

Milazzo S, Ernst E, Lejeune S, Schmidt K.

Laetrile treatment for cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: Reviews 2006 Issue 2 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Chichester, UK DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005476.pub2

Researchers say cyanide could be cancer-killer
[09/06/2000; Reuters News Service]

The deadly poison cyanide may have
a role as a powerful cancer killer, British scientists said
Wednesday. Researchers at London’s Imperial College told a science
meeting that they had harnessed a cyanide-generating system used
by plants as a defense against insects and believed the mechanism
could be developed to produce anti-cancer drugs.

Plants like the hydrangea and African potato contain an enzyme called linamarase
that is capable of generating cyanide when they are damaged by
animals or insects. The scientists believe they can attach that
enzyme to a cancer-seeking antibody capable of recognizing a
protein found only in certain cancers.

The method–known as AGENT
(Antibody Guided Enzyme Nitrile Therapy)–would produce an agent
that could potentially kill cancer cells and leave healthy tissue
unharmed.

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FDA cracks down on laetrile resurgence
[09/07/2000; Cable News Network]

Federal health officials warned Internet users
Wednesday to beware of a concoction made of apricot seeds that’s
touted as a cancer cure, as a Florida court case became the government’s
latest attempt to quell a resurgence of laetrile.

In the 1970s, thousands of patients went to Mexico seeking laetrile,
and some doctors sold it in the United States, before a National
Cancer Institute study concluded the substance did not fight
cancer. Experts also warned that laetrile pills could cause cyanide
poisoning.

So the Food and Drug Administration declared laetrile illegal.
Several states fought the FDA action but courts backed the government,
ending laetrile’s heyday by 1980.

Now laetrile is rebounding on the Internet, sometimes sold under
the aliases amygdalin or “vitamin B17.”

Wednesday, the FDA announced that a U.S. District judge in Miami
had issued a preliminary injunction halting sales by three Internet
sites, and warned consumers to beware.

“We do not want people to take products that have not been proven
to be safe and effective,” said FDA enforcement chief John Taylor,
saying the biggest worry is that patients will forego proven
cancer therapy.

Ann’s NOTE: Interestingly these two disparate articles appeared in the same week. In the first, it is noted that cyanide (supposed active ingredient in Laetrile) is shown to be a possible agent against cancer, while at the same time FDA is forcing stoppage of sales of this product on the Internet.

What do you think?  And did you know that Apricot seeds contain a potent amount of B17?