Pangaea Clinic of Naturopathic Medicine
interventional natural medicine for rapid, lasting health
Pangaea Clinic of Naturopathic Medicine
#120 - 12011 Second Ave
Richmond, BC
V7E 3L6
(604) 275 - 0163
(604) 677 - 5910 (fax)
The information presented within this web site is solely for education. It is copyrighted and protected as intellectual property. As all physicians have their unique opinions, this information is not to be taken as the opinion of any association or regulatory body. This website is not a substitute for personalized care by Dr Eric Chan or Dr Tawnya Ward; liability is excluded for misuse.
Articles for your browsing. These are past newsletters emailed to our patients and also responses for requests for information. If you have a specific topic you'd like a comment on, please email us.
Dammarane sapogenins is a highly concentrated extract of ginseng developed to be a potent natural chemotherapy against cancer cells. It is being studied in Canada, the US, and abroad in China. The studies published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology use the name Pandimex,which refers to the IV form. While the studies are evaluating the basic science of how it is effective against cancer, how it works in conjunction with chemotherapy and surgery, and how it can be used as a stand alone natural chemotherapy, in the naturopathic realm it is combined with other treatments. The combination of treatments exploits how dammarane sapogenins work and thus can theoretically make it more effective. There are a few major advantages to this ginseng extract for cancer:
- it shows some degree of selectivity for cancer cells and thus does not have the side-effects normally associated with chemotherapy
- it can be done at the same time as conventional chemotherapy without interference
- it can reduce the chemotherapy drug resistance if done at the same time
- it can make the cancer cells more sensitive to conventional chemotherapy so that the effect is greater
- it can be done as a stand-alone natural chemotherapy if first-line therapies have failed
The only disadvantage of this natural medication for cancer is that there is a small risk of allergy. While the risk of this is low, the allergy can be of the most severe type (anaphylaxis). Even the risk of this happening to a patient is so low, it needs to be mentioned because of the severity of the allergy if it does happen. Patients at increased risk are those who have a history of anaphylaxis and those who are allergic to either vegetable oil, castor oil, or ginseng.
How this natural chemotherapy works
A compound found naturally in ginseng (in miniscule quantities) is called Rh2, and it is this compound which forms the basis for anti-cancer action. Rh2 possesses very strong anti-cancer actions, but because it is in such small amounts, it is not used because of the extremely high cost associated with extracting the compound. Just one gram of Rh2 requires many hundreds of ginseng plants. Instead, natural extracts of such medications and especially the IV form of dammarane sapogenins are molecules derived from ginseng which gives structures close to Rh2. The new structures are called dammarane sapogenins and have anti-cancer activity on par with Rh2, at much lower cost.
This natural chemotherapy works by:
- increasing natural killer cell activity of the immune system to fight cancer (minor effect)
- directly toxic against cancer cells
- stimulating cancer cells to commit apoptosis or cell-suicide (major effect)
Mechanisms of Cancer Cell Suicide (apoptosis)
The above picture shows the pathways of cell suicide in cancerous cells, and where pretreatment with ozone or ultraviolet blood irradiation comes in. The ginseng / dammarane sapogenin IV acts as natural chemotherapy by directly stimulating multiple pathways of cell suicide. The ginseng / dammarane sapogenin IV stimulates cancer suicide by increasing the caspase-9 and its precursors, but importantly it also stimulates directly the effector caspases (shown in blue in the picture). This is important because many cancer cells have uncontrolled growth because they have for some reason a "block" at the pathways above the effector caspase. As well, the ginseng / dammarane sapogenin IV has natural chemotherapy action by directly stimulating cell death through free-radical mechanisms.
The oxidative treatments (UV blood irradiation and ozone therapy) are important because they stimulate different areas of the above cells suicide picture. In short, the oxidative treatments stimulate the natural way that pre-cancerous cells die before they become cancerous, and the ginseng IV stimulates that pathway as well as pathways past that point. (IV vitamin C is similar to the oxidative UV and ozone treatments since it has been shown to deliver hydrogen peroxide. However, it is likely that hydrogen peroxide has more directly toxic effects to the cancer other than the cell suicide mechanisms pictured above).
A problem with conventional chemotherapy can be drug resistance. Cancer cells can produce more of a protein on their surface called p-glycoprotein, which pumps out chemotherapy drugs. This is shown below.
The ginseng / dammarane sapogenin IV can act as a natural medicine to help chemotherapy work better. The mechanism can involve blocking the p-glycoprotein pump so that more of the chemotherapy stays inside the cancer cell.
The dammarane sapogenin / ginseng natural chemotherapy is generally given 2-3 times a week for 4 weeks. There is a rest cycle and then it may either be repeated, or imaging can be done to ascertain the effect. There are studies on this natural chemotherapy that can be gone over with cancer patients who are seeking adjunctive care to chemotherapy. The studies detail stabilization of advanced cancers, partial remission when used alone and with conventional chemotherapy, and also show how it potentizes chemotherapy's actions. If a patient is a candidate for this treatment, we will see them in initial consultation and go over the studies with them so that an informed decision can be made.
