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Revolutionary discovery: natural compounds which target only tumor cells

"Salvestrols" destroy cancer cells from the inside out while leaving healthy cells unharmed

Most chemotherapy drugs kill cells indiscriminately because they are unable to distinguish between healthy and cancer cells. They are cell poisons attacking tumorous and normal tissues alike, hence the wide range of serious side effects.

Attempts have been made to guide cytotoxic drugs to selectively seek out tumor cells, for example Photodynamic Therapy using light^[1] or to minimize its toxicity as with Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT)^[2] which however still require a doctor's intervention and involve considerable costs.

To truly find anticancer agents that only kill cancer cells leaving all other cells alone is akin to attaining the Holy Grail.

Enter the enzyme protein CYP1B1

While the body contains hundreds of different enzymes which science has known about for many decades, CYP1B1 was only more recently identified and sequenced. As far as research has established to date, the CYP1B1 enzyme is only found in cancer cells and virtually absent in healthy nonmalignant cells.

Enzymes being biological catalysts, could this enzyme—confined as it is to cancer cells—be used as a Trojan Horse which upon adding a suitable agent would metabolise or activate it into a potent anticancer toxin unleashed right into the cancer cell?

It turns out that this is indeed the case.

Enter Salvestrols

In the early 1990s, Professor Dan Burke of Aberdeen University discovered that CYP1B1 was abundantly present in the tumor cells of a wide variety of human cancers including breast, colon, prostate, bladder, brain, liver, lung, ovary, uterus, skin, esophagus, kidney, lymph node, and stomach cancer, but could not be detected in healthy normal cells.^[3]

This discovery started the research into natural and synthetic anti-cancer drugs which would be activated by CYP1B1, so-called prodrugs. Generally, a prodrug is a pharmacologically inactive compound that is converted within the body into a pharmacologically active drug. The prodrugs looked for would be nontoxic in their natural state but be metabolised by the CYP1B1 enzyme into toxic substances causing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in tumor cells.

Finding safe, and preferably, natural prodrugs which would only be activated in the tumor cell would represent a tremendous step forward in the fight against cancer.

After his appointment to the De Montfort University in Leicester, Prof Burke started working with Gerry Potter, a professor of clinical chemistry and expert for the development of anticancer agents who designed the first synthetic prodrug (DMU-135) which is activated into a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor by the enzyme CYP1B1 (tyrosine kinase inhibitors are used in multiple cancers to induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth).

They wondered whether similar compounds might also occur in food, which are activated by CYP1B1 to form cytotoxic substances. This is because an estimated 1,000 cancer cells are produced in the body every day but are broken down quickly and efficiently and do not lead to tumor formation in most cases.

Perhaps the question of why people get cancer would better be rephrased into: Why do people not get cancer? Perhaps the CYP1B1 enzyme represented a self-destruction mechanism built into cancer cells to selectively eliminate cells that have gone out of control. If this was true, it was logical to assume that the CYP1B1 enzyme used components from food to force the tumor cell into apoptosis. This might be one of the ways in which food protects against cancer.

Resveratrol, the first salvestrol discovered

So Prof Burke and Prof Potter embarked on a quest to find food components that could be metabolised by CYP1B1 into a compound toxic to tumor cells. In 2002, the results of Professor Potter's research into resveratrol were published, proving that resveratrol is converted by CYP1B1 into piceatannol, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is lethal to tumor cells. Resveratrol was already known to help prevent the formation of tumor cells; this study demonstrated that resveratrol also played a role in eliminating tumor cells.^[4]

Further research into resveratrol however revealed that resveratrol was unsuitable as a salvestrol because it blocked CYP1B1 when the dosage was increased.

Cancer-inhibiting salvestrols

The two researchers identified dozens of phytonutrients (bioflavonoids, carboxylic acids, stilbenes, stilbenoids) in vegetables, herbs, and fruit that have in common that they induce apoptosis in cancer cells when activated by CYP1B1. While they are biochemically unrelated, these substances share an identical substructure that is responsible for this effect.

They named this group of phytonutrients salvestrols ("salve" from the Latin salvare, meaning to save, salve meaning "be in good health", "strol" derived from resveratrol, the first salvestrol discovered).

Salvestrols, which often have a bitter or pungent taste, belong to the phytoalexins, which are compounds produced by plants to protect themselves from stress factors such as mold, bacteria, viruses, insects, and UV light.

These phytoalexins, which constitute the plant's defense system, are found primarily in the skins of fruits, in seeds, leaves, and the outer areas of roots: the parts of the plant that come into contact with the stressor.

Depending on the degree to which a plant comes into contact with the stressor, it will contain a small or large amount of phytoalexins. Salvestrols differ from each other in terms of their biological activity, bioavailability, half-life and water or fat solubility. They are nontoxic for healthy cells and are found in foods known to help prevent cancer. Many traditional medicinal herbs are rich sources of salvestrols.^[5]

In-vitro studies have shown salvestrols to induce apoptosis in a wide variety of tumor cells and the results obtained in cancer patients treated with concentrated salvestrol-containing extracts are encouraging.

Modern agriculture—less salvestrols in today's foods

Conventional farming practices seem to have minimized the levels of Salvestrols in fruits and vegetables...

In the search for salvestrols, an interesting discovery was made: the content of protective salvestrols in fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs and processed foods varies enormously. Plant protection products such as fungicides have drastically reduced the salvestrol content in conventionally grown vegetables and fruit. This is not surprising, as there is now no longer any need for the plant to produce phytoalexins.

In addition, plant selection and plant breeding—through developing plant varieties devoid of bitter substances—over the last fifty to sixty years have meant that plant varieties that are naturally rich in bitter salvestrols (and therefore do well with fewer pesticides) are no longer often grown. People don't particularly like the bitter taste and prefer to eat sweet-tasting Brussels sprouts, for example, rather than sprouts with a slightly bitter taste. People prefer new fruit and vegetable varieties with uniform size, color and shape to older varieties and less attractive specimens that contain more salvestrols.

Food manufacturers remove salvestrols from foods such as fruit juices and olive oil for reasons of taste, color and “purity”. The taste becomes sweeter without the need to add sugar. Refined foods generally contain little to no salvestrols. Profs Burke's and Potter's research group came to the conclusion that modern food contained 80 to 90% less salvestrols than was the case 50 or 100 years ago. Only organically grown (unprocessed) foods still contained relevant amounts of salvestrols.

How to increase salvestrol intake

To achieve better protection against cancer, it is advisable to provide the body with more salvestrols by eating unprocessed, organically grown vegetables, fruits and aromatic herbs. Vegetables are best prepared by steaming or wok cooking; salvestrols are quite heat-stable, but when vegetables are cooked they leach into the cooking water.

Good sources of salvestrols according to Prof Burke include apples, avocados, blackcurrants, brussels sprouts, cranberries, capsicums, grapes (& wine), cabbage, oranges, cauliflower, strawberries, olives, basil, dandelion, milk thistle, parsley, rosemary, thyme, etc.

In addition, concentrates from organically grown vegetables or fruit selected for their high salvestrol content can be used.

Salvestrol cofactors or synergists

Since our nutritional needs are complex and a food-based defense mechanism cannot function in complete isolation, salvestrols also have natural synergists which enhance their effect. Cofactors that maximize their effectiveness are therefore important.

First and foremost, this includes a change in diet to organically grown products. (If money is an issue, read HealingCancerNaturally.com's article How to eat organic "on the cheap".)

This not only reduces the intake of potential CYP1B1 inhibitors, but also improves the supply of salvestrols, beneficial nutrients and cofactors.

Secondly, physical exercise is required to provide ample oxygen, which is needed for optimal metabolic activity of CYP1B1.^[6]

Specifically, the list of synergists for salvestrols includes:

Biotin
Magnesium
Vitamin B3
Iron
Vitamin C

Biotin (vitamin H) promotes the production of CYP enzymes, including CYP1B1, while magnesium and niacin stimulate the salvestrol activation mechanism. Iron forms the core of the CYP1B1 enzyme, and vitamin C protects salvestrols from premature oxidation and potentially supplies CYP1B1 with electrons needed for metabolism.

In short, eating well supports the defense mechanism to a great extent.

Why isn't this discovery shouted from the rooftops?

One clue can be found in the reaction of the UK Institute of Cancer Research to Prof Potter's death on 31 December 2022. Nearly five months after the event, it published an article expressing their sadness at the loss of a former colleague. Not a word was lost on salvestrols but the focus was on Gerry Potter's discovery and development of abiraterone, "one of the ICR’s proudest achievements", a standard prostate cancer treatment whose 70+ known side effects include seizures, bone fracture, trouble breathing and many many more. Note: what the ICR did not fail to include is a call for donations for more cancer research.^[7]

In contrast, a tribute penned by Gerry Potter's son and published on 3 February 2023 by De Montfort University called Salvestrols his "most important discovery", a "breakthrough" and his "true Eureka! moment", which led Prof Potter to believe that many forms of cancer were, in fact curable.

Another clue is provided in an excellent presentation on Salvestrols and CYP1B1 by Prof Burke. He says that " the drug industry by the way is fully aware of the potential of the anticancer prodrug approach... it doesn't want to know about CYP1B1... it knows about it but it doesn't want to use it and it is pursuing very different, very complicated, very costly strategies to try and make a prodrug... and as far as I know from my latest reading it's still not working. But as always, nature gets there first."^[8]

Summary

Salvestrols are a class of phytonutrients (specifically phytoalexins—compounds produced in response to stress or attack by fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, or exposure to UV light).

Salvestrols are bitter and occur in relevant quantities only in organically grown vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Salvestrols have similar anticancer properties in humans: tumor cells die off, while healthy cells remain unaffected.

Salvestrols are metabolized in human cancer cells by the tumor cell-specific enzyme CYP1B1, triggering a cascade of different processes up to apoptosis, which then lead to a halt or even regression of the cancer. Salvestrols are therefore natural prodrugs; their activity depends on activation by CYP1B1.

Supplementation with salvestrols (combined with a multivitamin and synergists including increased oxygen uptake through physical exercise) might make a significant contribution to cancer recovery. People who consume organic products are likely to be better protected against various forms of cancer than those who choose conventional products.^[9]

Recently introduced highly processed foods contain only small amounts of salvestrols and other beneficial plant nutrients, and this decline may underlie the steadily rising cancer rates in the developed world.

Furthermore, the salvestrol content in our food has been significantly reduced by modern farming methods, making it increasingly difficult for us to benefit from this natural anti-cancer mechanism through our diet alone.

The enzyme CYP1B1 is now widely recognized as a universal cancer marker due to its ubiquitous presence across cancer types and stages.

CYP1B1 enzyme inhibitors: beware

A number of chemicals neutralize the CYP1B1 enzyme including glyphosate and several fungicides, which means that cancer cells will not be killed by salvestrols since CYP1B1 is blocked—another reason to avoid nonorganic foods.

Among the naturopathic cancer treatment arsenal, vitamin B-17, whether in the form of amygdalin from apricot kernels or other natural products or as the concentrated, synthetic form laetrile, works to inhibit the CYP1B1 enzyme and prevents the salvestrols from working. Do not take B-17 and salvestrols concurrently.

Salvestrols books and testimonials

Salvestrols: Nature’s Defence Against Cancer

by Brian A. Schaefer

Salvestrols: Journeys to Wellness

by Brian A. Schaefer

Numerous case studies with different backgrounds and cancers, representing a cross-section of ages from 36 to 94. What they share in common is that all of them regained their health.

-->>The above links are Amazon.com partner links and commissions are earned when you purchase through them.

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Footnotes

1 Photodynamic Therapy:

There are light-activated chemicals called porphyrins ("a ubiquitous class of naturally occurring compounds with many important biological representatives") which accumulate in cancer cells. Porphyrins injected into the body make (under certain conditions) tumors fluoresce. Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) was developed by T. J. Dougherty. PTD allows to both detect (highlight) cancerous cells as well as “explode" them subsequently by subjecting the injected photosensitive chemicals to irradiation with red laser light (640 nanometers), transported to the tumor locus via fibre-optic cables.

The UV light activates these chemicals which then proceed to selectively destroy the cancerous cells! PDT is painless and more successful than any conventional method in the treatment of localized tumors.

As long as the light is able to penetrate to the tumor site, the therapy is next to infallible. Many cancer patients have been treated very successfully using this method. In 70 to 80 percent of the cases, one treatment suffices for positive results to be noted. See T. J. Dougherty: "Photosensitization of Malignant Tumors" in S G Economou: "Adjuncts to Cancer Therapy", Philadelphia 1991. An offshoot of PDT is called Cytoluminescent Therapy (CLT).

2 Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT) involves administering a small dose of insulin to increase the receptivity of cancer cells to low-dose chemotherapy drugs. This technique is based on the observation that cancer cells often have many more insulin receptors than healthy cells and take up glucose at a much higher rate. The insulin lowers blood sugar, making cancer cells more “hungry” and, supposedly, more susceptible to chemotherapeutic drugs, which are delivered at a fraction (10-30%) of the classic dose. This is claimed to minimize common side effects of chemotherapy—such as hair loss, nausea, and fatigue—while maintaining effectiveness against the tumor.

3 Confirmed by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston USA (2008): "Cytochrome P450 1B1 is a universal tumor antigen overexpressed in all primary human tumors and minimally expressed in normal critical tissues." Cytochrome P450 1B1 is the old name for the CYP1B1 enzyme.

4 See Anti-cancer effect of resveratrol, pterostilbene and grapeseed extract.

5 ...which is likely another reason for the astounding healing properties ascribed to them, see About Herbs & Grasses Against Cancer.

6 Exercise is well known to show protective effects on cancer incidence and risk as well as mortality after diagnosis. In fact, strong evidence points to exercise exerting a beneficial effect on the risk of developing certain types of cancer, particularly of the colon, breast and endometrium, and there is evidence for a protective effect against other cancers as well. See Prévention du cancer et exercice physique.

7 Healing Cancer Naturally devotes a complete section to the important but unfortunately misleading subject of cancer research, see Cancer Research, Toxicity Testing & Animal Experimentation: an Unholy Union?.

8 If you'd like to learn more about why natural or other approaches to cancer treatment which are less lucrative than chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are not publicly endorsed, you may wish to start by reading On Cancer Business & the Cancer Industry. For more information on money, pharmaceuticals & cancer, also see History of alternative cancer treatment, Insider proves pharmaceutical industry puts money / profits before patients' health—and life and related articles.

9 Indeed, a large-scale study involving nearly 70,000 individuals was able to demonstrate a significantly lower cancer risk in high consumers of organically grown food, see Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk.