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Relapsed Ovarian Cancer- Alternative?

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Hello David; My wife has ovarian cancer. After a series of conventional chemotherapy treatments, we are considering antineoplaston therapy at the Burzynski Research Institute (BRI).

A little backgroud.  My wife is 52 years old and in good health otherwise. She has had a successful operation to remove her ovaries. Her CA125 started in the 3,000 range, after the first round of Carboplatin/Taxol got down to 41. Then popped up, so we went to a new chemo regimen, Gemzar/Avastin.

Her CA125 dropped to 300 then went up. Then we were on Taxotere/Avastin for last couple of months, her CA125 dropped, to 3,000 but CT Scan didn’t show progress.

The recommendation was to go to a new drug. I have to say that my wife is getting fatigued by all the chemotherapy. 

Now we have an appointment qt Burzynski Clinic this Tuesday. Do you recommend that?

We look forward to get your reply. Sam

Hi Sam,

The best way I know to answer your question We are looking to go to Burzynski Clinic. Do you recommend that? is to outline my thinking, my logic.
Your wife’s ovarian cancer situation, as far as I can see from your responses is:
1) Ovarian cancer diagnosis. Ovaries surgically removed to debulk the cancer as completely as possible. 
2) Chemotherapy regimens completed thus far- 
  • carboplatin/taxol-partial remission, relapse 
  • gemzar/avastin- partial remission, relapse
  • taxotere/avastin- possible remission, possibly unresponsive
3) Patient age is 52-average age of ovarian cancer newly diagnosed patient is 63.  Length of life becomes a higher priority for the young patient. 
4) While length of life is a priority, the toxicity of the previous therapies is taking a toll on the patient. While there may be relapsed/refractory therapies for ovarian cancer patients, I think conventional therapy options are few. 
——————————————————
Considerations for Antineoplaston Therapy (ANP) for ovarian cancer. 
  1. Though my cancer, multiple myeloma, is very different from ovarian cancer, to some degree I am a “proof of concept.” Because I am only one example, I am linking case results below as well as a Pubmed study. 
  2. Though I don’t know if ANP is non-toxic, technically speaking, I can say that ANP therapy is a cakewalk compared to my conventional therapies. 
  3. I would not recommend ANP for the newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patient. I believe in your case Sal, the risk/reward equation has changed from that of the newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patient. 
  4.  Last but not least, its important to emphasize that your health insurance will probably NOT cover ANP therapy. 
  5. I will add text info for ANP and the top 20 cancers below. 
If I read the ovarian cancer treatment data below correctly, ovarian cancer realized an “objective response rate” of over 50%. 
As you can see Sal, the answer to your question is not a simple yes or no. Let me know if you have any questions. 
Hang in there, 
David Emerson
  • Cancer Survivor
  • Cancer Coach
  • Director PeopleBeatingCancer

Recommended Reading:


Personalized cancer treatment for ovarian cancer.

Recently there have been numerous advances in understanding the genetic basis of cancer which have resulted in more appropriate treatments. In this paper we describe the experience of the Burzynski Clinic, involved in treatment of numerous patients based on personalized approach using novel combinations for difficult-to-treat malignancies, with gynecological cancers. This retrospective study was conducted by extracting data from Burzynski Clinic’s medical records and comprehensive review. Among the advanced refractory ovarian cancers cases (N=33), an objective response (OR) was found in 42.4%. We anticipate that with improved technology and novel therapeutics this rate will increase and adverse events will be reduced.
PERSONALIZED TREATMENT AT BURZYNSKI CLINIC
Comparison of Responses in 20 selected most common cancers (as of September 21, 2015)
Diagnosis
No. of patients
OR (%)
SD (%)
PD (%)
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
131
64
26
10
Breast Cancer
433
62
23
15
Carcinoma of unknown primary
42
57
36
7
Prostate Cancer
322
53
38
9
Ovarian Cancer
99
51
29
20
Head and Neck Cancer
87
51
29
20
Colon Cancer
229
51
28
21
Hodgkin’s Disease
16
50
38
12
Kidney Cancer
41
49
34
17
Malignant melanoma
63
49
21
30
Lung Cancer
179
46
33
21
Urinary Bladder and Urothelial Cancer
39
45
32
23
Esophageal and Stomach Cancer
55
44
29
27
Liver Cancer
20
40
25
35
Uterine, Cervix, Vulvar, Endometrium
51
39
31
30
Brain Tumor
189
37
39
24
Multiple Myeloma
21
36
43
Biliary Tract Tumor
20
30
40
30
Pancreatic Cancer
55
24
51
25
Mesothelioma
17
24
41
35
     Data based on medical records of 2,280 evaluable patients 
DEFINITIONS:
OR: Objective Response – includes CR and PR.
CR: Complete Response.  Complete disappearance of all signs of cancer in response to treatment of 4 weeks or longer.
PR: Partial Response.  More than 50% decrease in the size of the tumors  in response to treatment of 4 weeks or longer.
SD: Stable Disease.  No decrease or increase in the size of the tumors, but no progression, in response to treatment of 12 weeks or longer.
PD: Progressive Disease.  More then 50% increase in size of the tumors (the sum of cross-sectional area of the tumors), in response to treatment of 4 weeks or longer.
Evaluable Patients.  Patients who remained on treatment long enough to enable an objective evaluation of the response

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