Most cancer treatments today—like chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy—focus on destroying cancer cells. But a group of researchers is now exploring a completely different idea: what if cancer could be healed instead of attacked?
This idea is being studied by Professor Indraneel Mittra and his team at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer in Mumbai, India. Their recent study offers new hope by showing that a gentle approach might help some of the most dangerous cancers become less aggressive.
The idea of healing cancer is not completely new. Back in 1986, a doctor named Harold Dvorak suggested that cancer acts like a wound that never heals. Cancer and chronic wounds share many of the same traits. Professor Mittra believes that instead of trying to destroy tumors, we should try helping them return to a calm and healed state.
In their latest research, Professor Mittra’s team tested this healing idea on people with glioblastoma, a very aggressive brain cancer. Glioblastoma is hard to treat, and most patients survive only about 15 months after diagnosis, even with surgery and powerful treatments.
In this study, ten patients with glioblastoma were given a tablet made from two natural substances: resveratrol (found in grapes and red wine) and copper. They took the tablet four times a day for about 12 days before their planned brain surgery. Another ten patients with similar tumors did not receive the tablets and served as the comparison group.
During surgery, doctors collected tumor samples from both groups and studied them in detail. The results were impressive.
In the group that took the tablets:
Tumors were growing more slowly.
Important cancer markers were much lower.
Immune system blockers (which usually help cancer hide) were reduced by 41%.
Markers linked to cancer stem cells were 56% lower.
Even better, none of the patients had side effects from taking the tablets.
So how does this work? According to Professor Mittra, it all comes down to tiny pieces of DNA called “cell-free chromatin particles” (cfChPs), which are released when cancer cells die. These cfChPs can actually make the remaining cancer cells more aggressive.
But resveratrol and copper seem to destroy these harmful particles, stopping the damage before it can spread.
In treated patients, these dangerous DNA particles were nearly gone, while they were still present in those who did not take the tablets. This suggests that the tablets help remove dead cancer cells in a safer, cleaner way, without making the disease worse.
One exciting result was the drop in immune checkpoint proteins. These proteins protect cancer cells from the immune system. New drugs that block these proteins have changed cancer treatment, but they are expensive and often cause serious side effects. The natural tablet in this study had similar effects, but at a much lower cost and with no known harm.
Professor Mittra believes this gentle, healing approach could lead to a big shift in cancer treatment. “We’ve been trying to kill cancer for thousands of years,” he says. “Maybe it’s time to try helping it heal instead.”
Although the study was small, the results were strong enough that the team expects similar results in larger studies. This approach could be the start of a new, safer, and more affordable way to treat cancer.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that artificial sweeteners are linked to higher cancer risk, and how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and results showing vitamin D supplements strongly reduces cancer death.
The study is published in BJC Reports.
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