GFY, Spammer (aka Paul Lindgreen, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aka pfezziwig,
an administrator of the doctor-rating website he pimps for, and who was
thus banned from at least one medical website)

U.S. bureau looking into unapproved cancer drug
FDA will not confirm if it is investigating buydca.com site

Jodie Sinnema, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, March 20, 2007

EDMONTON - The fraud division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
is looking into concerns that an American entrepreneur and chemist are
selling an unapproved compound to people fighting cancer.

The FDA wouldn't say if there is an actual investigation into the
buydca.com Web site, but in general, if the agency learns about
something unsafe or illegal, it moves swiftly to take action and protect
the public.

Last week, the University of Alberta researcher who discovered
dichloroacetate or DCA shrank tumours in rats warned people they could
die if they took DCA.

Even though the owners of buydca.com are marketing the compound as an
experimental treatment for pets with terminal cancer -- and clearly
specify the DCA powder is "not for use by humans" -- the FDA
spokesperson said that doesn't mean the Web site creators can skirt
regulations.

As a basic rule, anything sold as drug products for use in humans
requires FDA approval.

Neither the FDA nor Health Canada has approved DCA for use in humans,
though the University of Alberta's Dr. Evangelos Michelakis hopes to
begin clinical trials in cancer patients this spring.

Health Canada spokesman Alastair Sinclair said his department isn't
investigating the use of DCA by hundreds of desperate cancer patients,
self-medicating after buying the compound from the States or getting
local doctors to write off-label prescriptions (using a drug made for
one health problem to combat another).

Mr. Sinclair said Health Canada only looks into drugs if a company
approaches the department to seek market approval.

David Gorski, a cancer surgeon of eight years and surgery professor in
New Jersey, said the DCA controversy is a case pitting the needs of the
many against the needs of individuals, and safety against speed.

"If it's not tested properly, we would never truly know if it would
work," said Mr. Gorski, noting individual testimonials about effective
treatment doesn't serve the public nor prove anything.

Jim Tassano, the man selling DCA through his Web site, said his motives
are honest and pure. He said he's contacted the FDA to work with them
and said in one or two months, he suspects people will come forward with
X-rays, showing their tumours have shrunk.

So far, his biggest result is a 175-pound Rottweiler whose tumours began
weeping within five days of treatment. No new tumours have formed, Mr.
Tassano said.

"In a way, I see that as the first actual person," Mr. Tassano said. "No
one can claim tumour shrinkage yet. It's too early ? [But] it's a
question of a person's right to life."

Dr. Michelakis and researchers discovered that a simple molecule, used
for decades to treat children with rare metabolic diseases, commits
"immortal" cancer cells to a natural death. The researchers found DCA
causes regression in several cancers, including lung, breast and brain
tumours.

DCA, a non-toxic compound comprised of "a couple of oxygens, a couple of
chlorides and a couple of carbons," appears to repair the damage that
cancer cells cause to mitochondria -- the energy- producing units in cells.

I.P.