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ABSTRACT: The anticancer activity of Cantron® and its presumed constituents were examined in vitro against a number of leukemia, solid tumor and normal cell types in a disk diffusion assay. It was demonstrated to have solid tumor selectivity against murine Colon38 compared to both murine leukemia L1210 and murine bone marrow stem cells (CFU-GM). The cytotoxic compounds in Cantron® with significant anticancer activity in vitro were shown to be catechol and tetrahydroxyquinone (THQ). IC^sub 50^ values were determined against 13 different cancer cell lines and yielded an average value of 22.8 µg/mL for Cantron®, 2.3 µg/mL for catechol and 23.7 µg/mL for THQ. Clonogenic studies for these three materials demonstrated a similar increase in cell killing as a function of exposure time (from 2 h to 7 days) with the 7 day S^sub 10^ value (concentration with yielded a 10% survival of clonogenic cells) of 5, 1.6 and 5 µg/mL, respectively, for Cantron®, catechol and THQ. An HPLC assay for catechol demonstrated its percentage in Cantron® at 12.7% by weight, a value also deduced from the cytotoxic activities of the components of Cantron®. These studies indicate that Cantron® has both anticancer activity and therapeutic potential.
KEY WORDS: Alternative therapy, Anticancer, Cantron, Protocel
INTRODUCTION
Alternative, non-FDA approved, therapies for cancer are becoming increasingly common and more acceptable to the general public. This is due in part to the public's frustration with the lack of effective medical treatments for many cancers such as lung, brain and pancreas, the high cost of pharmaceuticals, the significant adverse side effects of anticancer drugs and the abundance of anecdotal evidence both verbally and on the Internet for successful treatments using alternative approaches. The increased use of alternative medicine approaches led to the creation of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the National Institute of Health in the United States to "explore complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science" (http:// nccam.nih.gov). Given their prevalence in the market place and the public's desire to utilize these alternatives, it is important that the scientific community examine alternative medicines either to validate them or to demonstrate their lack of efficacy.
One popular alternative cancer therapy is known as Cantron® (Entelev®, Cancell®, Protocel®, Jim's Juice). Cantron®, in...