CHEMOTHERAPY AND HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE

The Low/Ultra-Low Dose Treatment of Cancer: is there a common place between chemotherapy and homoeopathy?

Cancer is a Systematic Disease from the very beginning,though its most prominent expression and product is the malignant tumour,developing at the most vulnerable sites of the organism.The integrative cancer treatment would be optimized following the modern biomedical concept of cancer as a potentially reversible systemic disease.In this study,the concepts and applications of low and ultra-low doses of drugs and remedies administered to cancer patients are described and commented.

Well-selected homeopathic medicines have demonstrated cytotoxic capabilities inducing apoptosis in cancer cells.Patients treated with additional homeopathy showed better tolerance to conventional interventions ,improvement in the quality of life and in the survival period.In animal models, several homeopathic remedies have a remarkable inhibitory effect on certain tumors’ development. Homeopathic remedies,besides,have the potential to support effectively the functional integrity of the organs involved in the pathogenesis of cancer in each one individual case and ,moreover, to restore the economy and balance of the whole organism.

Low-dose metronomic (LDM) chemotherapy, the frequent and continuous use of low doses of conventional chemotherapeutics, is an emerging alternative to conventional chemotherapy.Metronomic chemotherapy suppresses tumor growth mainly by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and modulating the immune response against tumors,while they also induce tumor dormancy.High efficiency of antitumor activity of ultralow doses of certain cytostatic drugs has also been demonstrated,while ultra low doses of chemosensitizers and immunomodulators increase essentially the efficiency of cytostatic drugs.

Low/ultra-low doses in cancer treatment is a very promising field,where converge and overlay low/ultra-low dose chemotherapy and homoeopathic pharmacology.They share an information-based action on malignant tumours,which is elective,with a well targeted specificity of the kind and seat of action.Both can counteract the side effects of conventional chemotherapy,while homoeopathic remedies can also support effectively the physiology of cancer as a systemic disease.Further evaluation of their common pharmacodynamics seems highly recommendable, within a framework of Integrative Pathology, Pharmacology and Oncology.