Over the last couple of weeks, the subject of Dichloroacetic acid (DCA) as a cure for cancer has come up a few times in my circle of friends. Being the liberal, hippy, environmental, free-speach-a-cists that we are, there are a lot of conspiracy theories going around. In particular, that DCA is the cure for cancer, but we aren’t hearing about it from Big Business because it’s not owned by the drug companies. I really, really hoped that was the case, but I researched it tonight (by which I mean that I found articles written by medical professionals who know how to research medical discoveries) and I found that just isn’t the case.

DCA may be the miracle cure that we’ve been waiting for, but it hasn’t entered human-trials yet so there’s no evidence that it will work in humans. Although it’s shown success in reducing the size of tumours in lab mice, “DCA is an organic chemical that causes liver cancer in laboratory mice when put in their drinking water” (source - emphasis added).

The University of Alberta researchers are theorizing the following (summed up nicely by Dr. Len at the American Cancer Society):

The basic gist of the research report is that cancer cells rely on certain energy pathways that are different from normal cells, similar to the situation that occurs in what we medically call lactic acidosis.

Lactic acidosis in very simple terms occurs in our bodies when we are very ill or may be suddenly severely traumatized. Our cells basically become starved for energy, and switch into other energy pathways that rely less on oxygen, resulting in the production of lactic acid.

As a result, when there are large quantities of lactic acid circulating in our system, it can contribute to a significantly increased risk of death.

What the Alberta researcher hypothesized was that cancer cells also work through similar metabolic pathways. If you could revert them to normal, then the cells would switch back to the typical energy pathway, and either die or convert to normal cells.

Where DCA or dichloroacetic acid fits into this theory is that it can apparently convert the bad metabolic pathways into good ones.

I’m sure everyone who has had someone affected by the disease has been hoping for an announcement like this, but it really seems too early to tell at this point. I hope this is it.