Pancreatic Proteolytic Enzymes and Cancer: New Support for an Old Theory

Abstract

In 1905, the embryologist John Beard first proposed that pancreatic proteolytic enzymes had potential as a treatment for cancer. His theories were dismissed by the medical world a decade later, but various practitioners have kept the concept alive through the publication of case reports of cancer patients treated with pancreatic proteolytic enzymes. In the last 2 decades, studies of the role of proteases in physiology have made it clear that they do more than digest food. This article reviews the history of the clinical use of pancreatic proteolytic enzymes in cancer treatment, and recent research on protease activated receptors and their role in cancer.

Translating The New Perspect of Homocysteine Metabolism and Mitochondrial Dysfunction Towards New Therapeutic Insights of Aging, Atherogenesis and Cancer

“…This is based on the premise that trophoblastic cells of the embryo, which invade the uterine endometrium and myometrium during implantation of the fertilized embryo, are related to the asexual cycle of cellular organisms and are converted to placental cytotrophoblastic and syncytiotrophoblastic cells by the action of enzymes produced by the pancreas of the developing fetus. Based on the concept that trophoblastic cells, which are distributed within developing tissues of the fetus, are similar in their cellular behavior to malignant cells, Beard introduced the enzyme therapy of cancer [19]. This treatment consists of injecting enzymes and pro-enzymes extracted from porcine pancreas into patients with various forms of primary or metastatic cancer.…”

A high throughput blood-based assay for the early detection of pancreatic cancer

“…Effective FDA approved, early detection assays for PDAC detection are nonexistent, but are critically needed to transform survival from this deadly disease. The only FDA approved clinical biomarker for PDAC is carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), which is used predominantly for measure of disease burden across treatment and not as an early detection biomarker, due to its low positive predictive value (PPV) in this setting (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Currently, our ability to screen the general population as well as monitor patients at high-risk for PDAC is limited by many factors including access, cost, and assay accuracy.…”