Two Most Commonly Cited Studies which Purport to Refute the Mechanism of Nitriloside Cancer Elimination

Editor’s note— The following two scientific papers claim to refute specific aspects of the mechanism of Nitriloside cancer elimination using such treatments as Laetrile.  I have not been able to find the text of the actual papers online to read, however many medical papers cite essentially only these two studies in their dismissal of the mechanism of Nitriloside cancer elimination.  Note that in later sections of this article evidence is shown which claims to refute these studies and others like them.


1.  The claim that the unlocking enzyme “Beta-glucosidanse” is found essentially only in cancer cells has been refuted by a 1978 scientific study by Biaglow JE and Durand RE who claim that beta-glucasidnece is not found in cancer cells.

Following is a link to the abstract of the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/417038


2.  The claim that the protecting enzyme “Rhodanese” exists essentially everywhere in the body except the cancer cells has been refuted by a 1952 scientific study by Gal EM, Fung FH, and Greenberg DM, who claim that it also exists in cancer cells.

Following is a link to the abstract of the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14945048

The Presentation of Video Footage of Cancer Cells Dying When Exposed to Laetrile Under a Microscope Would Be Beneficial to Support the Theory

Footage of cancer cells dying due to causes other than Nitrilosides does exsit as presented in this section, but apparently no such footage exsits on the internet for the effects of Laetrile.  Following is footage of breast cancer cells dying from the “Taxol” treatment, and also cervical cancer cells being killed by “Human Granulocytes.”



Breast Cancer Cells Dying From the “Taxol” Treatment [Note: This is not from the effects of Laetrile Nitrilosides]


From the YouTube page: “Live cell imaging of breast cancer cells being killed by the chemotherapy drug taxol.  Cells are expressing GFP:tubulin.  Cells were imaged at 20X with a spinning disc confocal microscope.  Cancer cells are being treated with Taxol.”




Cervical Cancer Cells Dying From the Effects of “Human Granulocytes” [Note: This is not from the effects of Laetrile Nitrilosides]


From the YouTube page: “Watch the yellow arrow on this video which points out where a type of white blood cell called a granulocyte is killing cervical cancer cells.”

Scientific Reports of Ernst T. Krebs, Jr., John Beard, and Others Which Confirm the Mechanism of Nitriloside Cancer Elimination, from “The Robert Cathey Research Source”

Following are links to information on the website of the “Robert Cathey Research Source” which contain information supporting the theories of the mechanism of Nitriloside cancer elimination.


Main directory of the “The Robert Cathey Research Source”:
https://users.navi.net/~rsc/#cancer


A bibliography of essays and monographs by Dr. Krebs, John Beard and others involved with study of the metabolic resolution of cancer:
http://users.navi.net/~rsc/krebsall.htm



“Notice of Medical Responsibility,” January 26, 1997 [An article containing references to scientific papers validating the theory of Nitriloside Cancer Elimination]:
http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/Public_Notice4.txt



Other reports from the website supporting the theory of the mechanism of Nitriloside cancer elimination:

Refutations of Criticism Of The Mechanism Of Laetrile Therapy: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/121496.txt



“The Nitrilosides (Vitamin B-17)-Their Nature, Occurence and Metabolic Significance (Antineoplastic Vitamin B-17),” by Ernst T. Krebs, Jr., Reprinted from the Journal of Applied Nutrition, Volume 22, Numbers 3 and 4, 1970: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/krebs3.txt


“The Nitrilosides In Plants And Animals, Nutritional And Therapeutic Implications,” By Ernst T. Krebs, Jr., Privately Published: 1964: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/krebs2.txt


“Suggested Mechanisms of Action of Vitamin B-17,” by Charles Gurchot, Ph.D.: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/gurchot.txt


“The Nature of Cancer,” by Ernst Krebs, Jr. (Presented before CCS Second annual Cancer Convention, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California ): http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/krebsccs.txt


A Brief Summary Of Things You Can Do When You Have Cancer: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/getwell2.txt


Amygdalin (Laetrile) and prunasin beta-glucosidases: distribution in germ-free rat and in human tumor tissue: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/amg06x18.txt


Specificity of Serine enzymes to Cancer glyco-proteins, R.Cathey, 1997, RCRS: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/030597.txt


Issues with Diet: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/updates/121497.txt


The Scientific Basis Of Laetrile Therapy: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/krebs5.txt


Studies Of Normal And Malignant Tissues: http://users.navi.net/~rsc/cancer/manner78.txt

Excerpts From the Documentary and Book “A World Without Cancer”

Following is information supportive of the theory of the mechanism of Nitriloside cancer elimination from the book and documentary "A World Without Cancer," by G. Edward Griffin.


An Excerpt From the Book “A World Without Cancer,” Page 130, Describing Corruption in the Medical Establishment


Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura (left) was the senior laboratory researcher at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute.  He reported that, in his experiments with mice, Laetrile was more effective in the control of cancer than any substance he had ever tested. This was not acceptable to his superiors.  Instead of being pleased at the possibility of a breakthrough, they brought in other researchers to duplicate Sugiura’s experiments and to prove that they were faulty.  Instead, the follow-up studies confirmed Sugiura.  Undaunted, his superiors called for new experiments over and over again, following procedures designed to make the tests fail.  Eventually they did fail, and it was that failure that was announced to the world. 

Ralph Moss (right) was the Assistant Director of Public Affairs at Sloan-Kettering at the time of the Laetrile tests.  When he was ordered by his superiors to release false information about the results of those tests, he resigned in protest.




A Written Description of an Excerpt From The Documentary Video “A World Without Cancer” Describing Corruption in the Medical Establishment

Does Laetrile or Vitamin B-17 actually control cancer in human beings? And if it does, is there statistical evidence to back up these claims? Spokesmen for organized medicine say “no,” however almost all opposition to Laetrile is based upon a hightly flawed 1953 report by the Cancer Commission of the California Medical Association.  The report said, “No satisfactory evidence has been produced to indicate any significant cytotoxic effect of Laetrile on the cancer cell.”

Using this report as a primary reference, government agencies soon declared that it was illegal to prescribe, transport, or even recommend Laetrile.  The report was written by the Committee Chairman Dr. Ian MacDonald, and the Committee Secretary Dr. Henry Garland.  There were seven other prominent physicians appointed to the committee, but none of them— not even the men who wrote the report, had any personal experience with Laetrile.  They had based their conclusions entirely on the written records of others.

It is shown that the scientific judgement of these men had been compromised, as MacDonald and Garland had made headlines claiming there was no connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.  In fact, MacDonald had claimed that “24 cigarettes a day was a harmless pastime,” and then he said “a pack a day keeps lung cancer away.”  But even more important than their scientific ineptitude is the fact that both men actually have falsified their summary of the Laetrile experiments.  For example, their report claimed that microscopic examinations of tumors taken from patients treated with Laetrile showed no evidence of beneficial chemical effect, yet ten years later it was learned that one of the pathologists conducting the examinations in fact did report several instances of tumor destruction, which he stated at the time could well have been caused by the action of Laetrile.  MacDonald and Garland had not told the truth. 

The report also stated that laboratory technicians had tried unsuccessfully to release cyanide from Laetrile, and this was offered as powerful evidence that the entire theory was a fraud, and yet, just two months prior to that, the American Medical Association chemical lab had reported that it had been successful in releasing cyanide from Laetrile; also other labs have done this also, including the California Food and Drug Lab and the Cytochemistry lab of the National Cancer Institute.  Once again MacDonald and Garland had obscured the truth. 

Another important aspect of this report is that the patients have received extremely small doses of Laetrile, much too small to prove anything.  Today it is not uncommon to administer two or three grams of the material in a single injection, and generally, thirty or forty grams are required before the patient can report tangible signs of improvement; but in the California experiment, the maximum total dosage was only about two grams, and even that was divided among twelve injections.  Five patients have received only two injections, and five had received only one, so its not surprising that these experiments had failed to obtain convincing evidence that Laetrile worked.  This and other discredited reports continue to be cited by the American Cancer Society as proof of Laetrile being a hoax.




An Excerpt From the Book “A World Without Cancer,” Pages 88 To 91, Describing the Mechanism of the Nitriloside Theory of Cancer Elimination

... 

The B17 molecule contains two units of glucose (sugar), one of benzaldehyde, and one of cyanide, all tightly locked together within it.  As everyone knows, cyanide can be highly toxic and even fatal if taken in sufficient quantity.  However, locked as it is in this natural state, it is chemically inert and has absolutely no effect on living tissue.  By way of analogy, chlorine gas also is known to be deadly.  But when the chlorine is chemically bound together with sodium forming sodium chloride, it is a relatively harmless compound known as common table salt. 

There is only one substance that can unlock the B17 molecule and release the cyanide.  That substance is an enzyme called beta-glucosidase, which we shall call the “unlocking enzyme.” When B17 comes in contact with this enzyme in the presence of water, not only is the cyanide released, but also the benzaldehyde, which is highly toxic by itself.  In fact, these two substances working together are at least a hundred times more poisonous man either of them separately; a phenomenon known in biochemistry as synergism.

Fortunately, the unlocking enzyme is not found to any dangerous degree anywhere in the body except at the cancer cell, where it always is present in great quantity, sometimes at levels in excess of one-hundred times that of the surrounding normal cells.  The result is that vitamin B17 is unlocked at the cancer cell, releases its poisons to the cancer cell, and only to the cancer cell.  There is another important enzyme called rhodanese, which we shall identify as the “protecting enzyme.” The reason is that it has the ability to neutralize cyanide by converting it instantly into by-products that actually are beneficial and essential to health.  This enzyme is found in great quantities in every part of the body except the cancer cell which, consequently, is not protected.  Let us examine what, at first, may appear to be exceptions to these rules.  We have said that the unlocking enzyme is not found to any dangerous degree anywhere in the body except at the cancer cell.  That is true, but note the phrase “to any dangerous degree.” The unlocking enzyme actually is found in various concentrations everywhere in the human body.  It is particularly prevalent in the healthy spleen, liver, and endocrine organs.  In all of these instances, however, there also is present an even greater quantity of the protecting enzyme (rhodanese).  The healthy tissue is protected, therefore, because the excess of this protecting enzyme completely neutralizes the effect of the unlocking enzyme.

The malignant cell, by comparison, not only has a greater concentration of the unlocking enzyme than found in most normal cells but it is totally lacking in the protecting enzyme.  Thus, it is singularly vulnerable to the release of cyanide and benzaldehyde.

The non-cancerous organs, therefore, are endowed by nature with the unique capacity of protecting themselves and even nourishing themselves from the digestion of the B17 molecule, whereas cancerous tissue converts the same vitamin substance into powerful toxins against which it has no defense.

... 

With this in mind, it is amusing to watch the scientific “experts” who oppose Laetrile reveal their abysmal ignorance and arrogance on this subject.  In the 1963 report of the California Cancer Advisory Commission, for example, we read:

Dr. Greenstein is perfectly correct in observing that the unlocking enzyme is found in all tissue of the animal body, but he is one-hundred percent in error when he tries to scoff at its abundance within and around the malignant cell.  His lack of expertise, however, is made abundantly clear by the fact that apparently he is totally unaware of the corresponding presence and counteraction of the protecting enzyme in these tissues.  He is castigating as “sheer nonsense” a biochemical mechanism of which he apparently is totally ignorant.

Dr. Otto Warburg received the Nobel Prize for proving that cancer cells obtain nourishment, not through oxidation as do other cells, but through fermentation of sugar.  Warburg explained:

From this it is easy to see why anything that improves normal respiratory metabolism is an inhibitor to cancer growth.  The point, however, is that any benzaldehyde that might diffuse away from the cancer cell and come into contact with normal cells, will be oxidized and converted into harmless benzoic acid.  Benzoic acid is known to have certain anti-rheumatic, antiseptic, and analgesic properties.  This could partially account for the fact that B17 produces the unexpected effect of relieving the intense pain associated with terminal cancer, and does so without the aid of narcotics.  Although not a pain reliever per se, when it comes in contact with cancer cells, it releases benzoic acid right at the inflicted location and, thus, bathes that area with a natural analgesic.  Meanwhile, the benzaldehyde that remains at the cancer cell will find itself in an almost total lack of oxygen causing it to linger and perform its deadly synergistic action for a prolonged period of time. 

On the other hand, if a small amount of cyanide should diffuse into adjacent normal cells, it is converted by the enzyme rhodanese, in the presence of sulphur, into thiocyanate which, as stated previously, is perfectly harmless.  But, more than that, thiocyanate is known as a natural regulator of blood pressure.  It also serves as a metabolic pool for the body’s self-production of vitamin B12 or cyanocobalamin, a substance essential for health.  It comes as a great surprise for many to learn that cyanide is an essential and integral part of vitamin B12 as well as B17.

...




An Excerpt From the Book “A World Without Cancer,” Pages 115 To 118, Describing Resistance to the Nitriloside Theory Being Adopted

...

Dr. Ralph Weilerstein, Public Health Medical Officer of the California Food and Drug Administration has said flatly: “Nobody’s come up with any reliable data that it is of any value.” (“Food additive ban likely,” San Jose Mercury (Calif.), Sept. 9,1972.) The Federal FDA has proclaimed: “The Food and Drug Administration has seen no competent, scientific evidence that Laetrile is effective for the treatment of cancer.” (A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (published by ACS) July/Aug., 1972.) And the American Cancer Society, in an impressive volume entitled Unproven Methods of Cancer Management, has stated:

Commenting on this statement, Dr. Dean Burk of the National Cancer Institute described it as:

As far as the general public is concerned, however, if the American Cancer Society classifies vitamin B17 or Laetrile as an “unproven cancer cure,” that’s all they need to know.  Consequently, official pronouncements from prestigious organizations such as these are hard to ignore.  But so are the favorable findings of those clinicians who have used Laetrile on their own patients.  Somebody is wrong!

In previous pages we examined the scientific integrity of the research projects upon which official opposition to Laetrile is based, and we saw that they are shockingly lacking on all counts.  We discovered, also, that almost all of the cancer “experts” who have spoken out against Laetrile have done so, not out of personal experience or experimentation, but simply out of their complete faith in the scientific integrity of these discredited reports.

Showing that the case against Laetrile is fraudulent, however, does not constitute a case for Laetrile.  It is necessary, therefore, to examine the evidence that vitamin B17 actually does work in practice just as well as it does in theory. 

The effectiveness of the trophoblast thesis as a basis of cancer therapy has been demonstrated both in the laboratory and in the clinic.  In 1935, for example, long before the development of Laetrile, Dr. Isabella Perry of the Department of Pathology at the University of California Medical School conducted a series of experiments in which she subjected tumor-bearing rats to prolonged inhalation of cyanide fumes.  Here is what she wrote:

Perry observed that these experiments were probably of little value to humans because, in order to be effective, the level of cyanide fumes had to be dangerously close to lethal—a problem that is not present when the cyanide is released only at the cancer 11 as it is in the action of vitamin B17.  Nevertheless, these rats showed, not only complete tumor regression, but, compared to the control group without cyanide, an average life extension in excess of three-hundred percent. 

When we turn to the laboratory reports on Laetrile, the results are even more encouraging, especially since there is none of the danger connected with the inhalation of cyanide fumes.  Dr. Dean Burk, Director of the Cytochemistry Section of the federal government’s National Cancer Institute, reported that, in a series of tests on animal tissue, the B17 had no harmful effect on normal cells, but released so much cyanide and benzaldehyde when it came in contact with cancer cells that not one of them could survive.  He said, “When we add Laetrile to a cancer culture under the microscope, providing the enzyme glucosidase also is present, we can see the cancer cells dying off like flies.” (“Laetrile Ban May Be Lifted,” Twin Circle, June 16,1972, p. 11.)

While participating in the Seventh International Congress of Chemotherapy held in Prague in 1971, Dr. Burk declared:

In another series of tests, Dr. Burk reported that Laetrile was responsible for prolonging the life of cancerous rats eighty- percent longer than those in the control group not innoculated.  (Testimony in Hearings before the Subcommittee on Public Health and environment, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-Second Congress, quoted in Cancer News Journal, July-October, 1972, p. 48.)

The man who made these findings was one of the foremost cancer specialists in the world.  He was the recipient of the Gerhard Domagk Award for Cancer Research, the Hillebrand Award of the American Chemical Society, and the Commander Knighthood Of The Medical Order of Bethlehem (Rome) founded in 1459 by Pope Pius the Eleventh.  He held a Ph.D. in biochemistry earned at the University of California.  He was a Fellow of the National Research Council at the University of London, of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology, and also Harvard.  He was senior chemist at the National Cancer Institute, which he helped establish, and in 1946 became Director of the Cytochemistry Section.  He belonged to eleven scientific organizations, wrote three books relating to chemotherapy research in cancer, and was author or co-author of more than two-hundred scientific papers in the field of cell chemistry.

If Dr. Burk says Laetrile works, it works.

Conclusion

As demonstrated in this article, various scientific studies exist which claim opposing results concerning the mechanism of the Nitriloside theory of cancer elimination.  In order to clarify this issue, it would be beneficial to recreate previous key peer-reviewed studies relating to the issues of the roles of Rhodanese and Beta-glucosidase in the mechanism of the Nitriloside theory of cancer elimination, and it would also be helpful to create video footage of the behavior of cancer cells in the presence of Laetraile.