Drug Repurposing - a great introduction

This week's Yes to Life show on Health Radio with Robin Daly talks to Jane McLelland - she is the wonderful pioneer whose groundbreaking book first introduced this topic to a wider audience. 

"Knowledge about drugs intended for one purpose that actually have beneficial effects in another, say cancer, has been around for a long time, but the lack of financial incentives in off-patent drugs has meant that the research has generally collected dust – until, that is, Jane’s need to survive terminal cancer spurred her into a deep dive into the medical literature."

The show also looks at the Somatic theory of cancer vs the metabolic approach - often the root of why many oncologists are so dismissive of an integrative approach. We so need oncologists and more to understand where those of us taking an integrative approach are coming from.

Listen to the Jane McLelland show at: https://yestolife.org.uk/radio_shows/drug-repurposing/

This Yes to Life radio show is well worth a listen every week - you can also listen back on all the previous shows (8 years worth) with many other pioneers in an integrative approach - see: https://yestolife.org.uk/radio-shows/

See my very short interview with her from 2018:

https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2018/09/can-we-starve-our-cancer.html
Great 30 min documentary on this topic: https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2020/10/starving-cancer-new-documentary.html

Previous blog on approached to cancer: https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2023/05/could-this-be-day-world-changes-for.html

Update 1/2/25: Cancer Choices blog about repurposed drugs in 2025: https://cancerchoices.org/repurposed-drugs-in-cancer-care/

And their look at Fenbendazole and Cancer:

 https://cancerchoices.org/fenbendazole-and-cancer-a-closer-look-at-its-use-and-risks/

Starving cancer; new documentary

This excellent 30 minute film below 'Should We Starve Terminal Cancer’ came out earlier this month on YouTube. This documentary follows Yvonne's experience of starving her cancer, alongside the NHS standard of care. She uses cheap, existing drugs - sometimes called ‘off-label’ - typically used for diabetes or as anti-malarials - alongside a plant-based diet and supplements.

More than two years ago I met and talked to Jane McLelland, author of the book, ‘How to Starve Cancer’. She was one of the first, if not the first, to share her story and learning about how to starve her cancer. You can see my brief film with her here (i). Jane's website summarises her journey: "Diagnosed with terminal cancer in the prime of her life, and with no viable treatment options, she used herself as a human guinea pig, putting together a cocktail of low toxicity drugs, not normally used for cancer, alongside a low glycaemic diet and powerful supplements. These ‘starved’ her cancer of glucose, glutamine and fat, which she demonstrates with her ingenious, easy-to-follow ‘McLelland Metro Map’."

Jane now has over 31,000 followers on her Facebook page, her book is being republished, she has won an ‘Amazing Women Global’ life-time achievement award for her work and she is also launching a course in the next weeks - I’m already signed up.  

It is Jane’s approach of starving cancer that is the basis of this film - and Yvonne now believes she is living a healthier life with her cancer than she was before her diagnosis. The documentary investigates various aspects of starving cancer, and speaks to those who swear by it and totally refute it. I think it is a powerful and hugely informative film - a great introduction to what is a very complex field. I would strongly recommend it as a starting point to understanding this approach more. Big thanks to the documentary’s producer, Saffron Amis and director, Frederick Ferguson.

Notes

(i) https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2018/09/can-we-starve-our-cancer.html

You can get 40% of the book now on Jane's website and sign up for her newsletters: https://www.howtostarvecancer.com/

Can we starve our cancer?

Oh my... this book so resonated with me and was a great read. I learnt lots more about cancer and it's helping me rethink my approach - but more of that in a moment. I first heard Jane McLelland speak at Trew Fields then again met her last weekend in Guildford. You can see my short film below of Jane outlining her approach.

At both these talks and in her book Jane shares her amazing story; how 16 years ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 (terminal) cervical cancer and used a combination of cheap, easy to use drugs with minimal side effects - many of these are off label drug combinations. Off label as they are not prescribed for cancer, for example Metformin is used for diabetes while Statins are for people with high cholesterol. Jane hasn’t had a cancer ‘episode’ for years. 

Jane writes that there are around 60 drugs with anti-cancer effects and that certain combinations of these are proving to be extremely powerful. Furthermore new studies are showing remissions with late stage cancers and raising the possibility of cures, especially when the drug combinations are used at earlier stages. We have also seen that their appears to be no genetic answer to cancer; instead altered metabolism, the increased uptake of glucose and/or glutamine has been found to be common to all cancers.

The idea of drug combinations makes sense. This approach is used with HIV and AIDS. Cancer cells are constantly adapting and in order to grow they need sources of energy, mainly glucose with access to proteins and fat. If you starve a cancer cell of its energy from glucose then it redirects to other sources of energy like glutamine and fat. So we need to see how we can block the ‘fuel pipelines’ with our own drug cocktails. 

Jane has produced an easy-to-follow ‘Metro Map’ that shows how this can be done using diet, supplements, off label drugs and exercise. This is the main part of her approach although there are other key elements that need tacking into consideration. I would strongly urge getting hold of Jane’s book. Here are a couple of key things I learnt which now seem commonsense;

1. Cancers can be fuelled in different ways. For example brain cancer and colorectal cancer are particularly responsive to glucose while prostate cancer is fed by fat and protein. This fits with a story I heard about a guy with prostate cancer who followed a Ketogenic Diet (ie a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that mimics the metabolic state of long-term fasting). He found his PSA climbing but when he looked more at reducing fats, that led to his PSA falling again. It would seem those with prostate cancer (and those with breast cancer) should perhaps avoid a Ketogenic Diet with it’s high fats(i)? Or perhaps take more care over the fats we eat? That of course doesn’t mean stopping a low glycemic diet so sadly Millionaires slices, Victoria sponges, white rice and more are not in my diet! It seems virtually all cancers respond to a reduced glucose intake. More on nutrition and diets in a future blog.

2. There is a distinction between supplements that prevent cancer and those that treat it. Some antioxidants are useful for prevention, like low oral doses of Vitamin C and E. However, there is a tipping point in cancer progression when, in Jane’s words, they ‘switch allegiance and support the enemy; they help promote and fuel cancer’s resistance to apoptosis (death). I’ve stopped low dose oral Vitamin C supplementation! I did have Intravenous Vitamin C (IVC) following my Transurethral Hyperthermia in Germany, which behaves in a completely different way to low dose - and would consider it in the future if part of a whole plan to tackle my cancer. IVC has been shown to be very effective at killing cancer stem cells, at high dose it is a pro-oxidant producing hydrogen peroxide around the tumour, so stem cells cannot survive, but as Jane warns, it is risky if not part of a combination strategy. Indeed I recall mixed information regarding IVC and prostate cancer - probably because IVC can push the cancer up the glutamine and fat pathways instead?

Jo Lawrance cartoon

It is interesting to notice my first reactions to this approach. Drugs?! I wanted to take a more natural approach to healing and didn’t drugs have nasty side-effects? However the more I’ve read the more I consider this integrative approach to have value; drawing on the best of orthodox and complimentary medicine. This seems to me another example of the mind-body revolution that is underway.

Next steps for me include some more reading then finding out more about treatment (ii). See more of Jane when she spoke at Trew Fields in 2017 before her book came out: https://youtu.be/93F5zIe6PTU

Update March 2019: Useful article: https://integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2019/03/blocking-cancer-with-combinations-of-supplements-and-off-label-drugs/?fbclid=IwAR2q6hxbwwP7mMoyYmxnLjvgh2CgU0iX6um3BgeXovBSwwoF2AhdE-hxWkU 

Update June 2019: Useful video of Jane talking about how to start researching which pathways need blocking: https://youtu.be/t0ks0Eehg3Y 

 

Update 7/11/20: just listened to Dr Nasha Winters in a video Q and A and she disagrees that oral Vitamin C can play a role in promoting cancer.

Notes

(i) See "Dr. Gonzalez Dismantles the Ketogenic Diet For Cancer” including short film interviewing Dr Gonzalez:  

https://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/dr-gonzalez-dismantles-ketogenic-diet-for-cancer/

(ii) See Jane's great Facebook group at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/off.label.drugsforcancer/

This blog post was updated on 4th October 2018 to make it clearer regarding Vitamin C.