Silver bullet for cancer: Metal can kill some tumours better than chemotherapy with f

[Serpo]

Silver bullet for cancer: Metal can kill some tumors better than chemotherapy with fewer side effects



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2095610/Silver-bullet-cancer-Metal-kill-tumours-better-chemotherapy-fewer-effects.html#ixzz1lLRcWNcN

[Cebu_4_2]

Silver bullet for cancer: Metal can kill some tumours better than chemotherapy with fewer side effects


Silver can kill some cancers as effectively as chemotherapy and with potentially fewer side effects, new research claims.
Scientists say that old wives tales about the precious metal being a ‘silver bullet’ to beat the Big C could be true.
The metal already has a wide range of medicinal uses and is a common antiseptic, antibiotic and means of purifying water in the third world.



Good news: Silver can kill some cancers as effectively as chemotherapy and with potentially fewer side effects, new research has claimed

And British researchers now say that silver compounds are as effective at killing certain cancer cells as a leading chemotherapy drug, but with potentially far fewer side-effects.
They compared it to Cisplatin, currently used to treat a wide variety of cancers, but known to have harsh side effects including nausea, vomiting and even kidney damage.
Silver is used already in everyday products such as deodorant with no known side-effects, and could make for a potentially cheaper alternative to platinum-based Cisplatin.




Researchers from the University of Leeds conducted lab tests which exposed breast and colon cancer cells to various silver-based chemicals over a six day period.
Results, published in journal Dalton Transactions, showed that these silver-compounds were ‘as effective as Cisplatin’ at killing cancer with potentially fewer side effects.
While the team are still unsure about how exactly silver battles cancer, they think its effectiveness may be caused by the structure surrounding silver atoms, known as its ligand.



Way forward: Researchers from the University of Leeds found that silver could be used to help defeat breast cancer

They think this may help release the silver ion into cells when it enters the body, killing any cancer.
Study author Dr Charlotte Willans plans to spend the next year looking closely at what effect silver has on both cancerous and healthy cells, and whether it could be a safe and effective new anti-cancer drug.
She said: 'It’s certainly an exciting discovery, although I think we have a lot of work to do in the future. It opens the doors in terms of what we can do and investigate.
'Getting these results also gives us the opportunity we need to apply for funding to take the research further.
'This could lead to a cheaper, less toxic alternative to current treatments for cancer.'
Explaining the research in greater detail, Dr Willans added: 'As many are unfortunately aware, chemotherapy can be a very gruelling experience for the patient.
'Finding effective, yet non-toxic drugs is an ongoing problem, but these preliminary results are an important step in solving it.
'Our research has looked at the structure which surrounds a central silver atom. This "shrubbery" is what determines how reactive it is and what it will interact with.
'Our research has used different types of these ligands to see which is the most effective against cancer cells.'

[Neuro]

Lemme see here, an average chemotherapy treatment is around $100-200,000, where a low estimate of the drug cost would be $10-20,000 (probably more) and a lot of the other costs are derived from dealing with the side effects of the treatment, probably if you use colloidal silver you would use less than 1/100th of an ounce of silver all in all, at a cost of less than 0.30 cents... I can see how this will not catch on in oncology...

[zap]

My sis just had a treatment of Cisplatin in Dec. I read it was a platinum based drug, I don't know if silver would be much better? It pretty much kicked her butt, they changed it to another non metal drug, erbitex.


http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/GuidetoCancerDrugs/CISPLATIN

Why would this drug be used?
Cisplatin is used to treat testicular, bladder, and ovarian cancers that have spread. It also can be used to treat several other cancers, such as lung cancer.

How does this drug work?

Cisplatin is a platinum-compound chemotherapy drug that acts as an alkylating agent. Cisplatin stops cancer cells from growing, causing them to die.

Before taking this medicine

Tell your doctor…

If you are allergic to anything, including medicines, dyes, additives, or foods.
If you have any medical conditions such as kidney disease, liver disease (including hepatitis), heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, gout, or infections. These conditions may require that your medicine dose, regimen, or timing be changed.
If you have ever had kidney stones. Your doctor may need to give you extra fluids and watch certain lab work more closely.
If you have ever taken any type of radiation or chemotherapy, especially cisplatin or other platinum-containing medicines. Your doctor will want to watch you more closely for certain side effects.
If you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if there is any chance of pregnancy. This drug may cause birth defects if either the male or female is taking it at the time of conception or during pregnancy. Check with your doctor about what kinds of birth control can be used with this medicine.
If you think you might want to have children in the future. Some drugs can cause sterility. Talk with your doctor about the possible risk with this drug and the options that may preserve your ability to have children.
If you are breast-feeding. The drug passes into breast milk and may harm the baby.
About any other prescription or over-the-counter medicines you are taking, including vitamins and herbs. In fact, keeping a written list of each of these medicines (including the doses of each and when you take them) with you in case of emergency may help prevent complications if you get sick.
Interactions with other drugs

Cisplatin may injure or damage the kidneys, especially if given with other drugs that can harm the kidneys, or even drugs that are removed from the body by the kidneys, such as:

aminoglycosides (a type of antibiotic that is usually given in the vein, such as gentamicin, tobramycin, amikacin, streptomycin, and others)
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), and many others
blood pressure medicines in the ACE inhibitor group, like lisinopril, enalopril, captopril
anti-viral drugs like acyclovir (Zovirax)
There are many more such drugs, so be sure your doctor knows all the drugs you take. Talk to the doctor or nurse before you start any new medicine, even non-prescription drugs.
Drugs that can cause hearing loss, such as aminoglycoside antibiotics (see examples above) and certain "water pills" -- the diuretics furosemide (Lasix) and ethacrynic acide (Edecrin) -- may worsen any hearing loss from cisplatin.

Probenecid can raise the blood level of cisplatin in the body and cause serious harm.