Cutting-Edge Cancer Therapy

Enzymes extracted from food sources like pineapples and papayas, among others, are showing tremendous promise in the treatment and prevention of cancer. Enzymes have been used for many years in Europe to treat cancer and other diseases. Numerous European studies on enzyme therapy have been commissioned by the European Union in an effort to establish policy on enzymes for cancer treatment. Here are some of the findings:

Researchers examined the effectiveness of enzymes as cancer treatment or as a complementary treatment for various types of cancer and published their results in the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies. They concluded that “these studies demonstrated that enzyme therapy significantly decreased tumor-induced and therapy-induced side effects and complaints such as nausea, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, weight loss, and restlessness and obviously stabilized the quality of life.” For some types of cancer “enzyme therapy was shown to increase the response rates, the duration of (cancer) remissions, and the overall survival times.”

Enzyme therapy has demonstrated its effectiveness in breast (Cancer Biotherapy journal) and bone cancer treatment (Vnitrni Lekarstvi journal). It has also been effective following breast cancer surgery to alleviate arm swelling (Rozhl Chir journal). Enzymes have been helpful in preventing the fibrous changes in the lungs, skin, fatty tissue, soft tissue, liver, and kidneys, which are linked to radiation treatment for lung, cervical, breast, and lymphatic cancers (Likars’ka sprava journal).

In a study of mice published in the journal Cancer Letters, the enzyme bromelain (found in pineapples) was able to prevent skin cancer. Experts speculate that this may be because bromelain digests the outer protein membrane of the cancer cells, so the immune system can recognize cancer cells and kill them more effectively.

In another animal study published in Integrative Cancer Therapies, animals with cancer that was treated with three types of enzymes—chymotrypsin, trypsin, and papain—lived substantially longer than animals which did not receive enzyme therapy. Similar results were found in research in the same journal studying pancreatic and breast cancers in humans.

Research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and published in the journal Pathobiology found the enzyme bromelain showed positive effects on the immune system. The researchers indicate that the improvements in immune system markers may help explain some of the clinical effects they’ve observed following bromelain treatment in patients suffering from chronic inflammatory disease, HIV, and cancer.

While it is still in early stages and needs additional research and funding for research, enzyme therapy has shown promise for various types of cancer.