Abstract 5999: The Warburg Effect suggests a palliative care approach to cancer therapy

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Otto Warburg discovered in 1924 that cancer cells needed a lot more glucose than normal cells. Today, the “Warburg Effect” is not only recognized as a “hallmark of cancer” but also served as the scientific basis for cancer detection using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron emission tomography (PET-scans). Warburg suggested in 1927 that treating cancer patients with insulin can deprive glucose to the cancer cells by lowering the blood glucose levels and may inhibit tumor growth. Although at least six peer-reviewed publications so far have provided support for the feasibility of this approach, no clinical trial has ever been done. We have previously presented an analysis of the data from hospitals in China suggesting that insulin can be safely administered for patients receiving a small dosage of standard chemotherapy drugs as palliative treatments for late-stage cancer patients. Here, we report additional data from more patients and medical facilities. Experimental procedures: Patients diagnosed with multiple types of late-stage solid tumors were treated with regular insulin (Humulin R) administered intravenously, and small doses of standard chemotherapy drugs (approximately 10% of the standard dosages). Blood glucose levels were monitored throughout the course of treatment. Hypoglycemia was reversed by ingestion of food and drink or injection of glucose solution. Depending on how well the patients tolerated the treatments, 5-30 units of insulin were used. No permanent side effects were observed or reported. Summary of data: Over 400 treatments have been performed on over 30 patients ranging from 30 to 76 years old, and diagnosed with 14 types of cancer. The average age of the patients was 56.2 years old. Symptoms of hypoglycemia were observed in all 30+ patients, and readily reversed by intravenous infusions of glucose or ingestion of food and drink. The insulin treatments were well tolerated and no longer -term side effects were observed. Conclusions: Our analysis supports the feasibility of using regular insulin as a reproducibly safe method to achieve glucose deprivation in patients with advanced stages of multiple types of cancer receiving palliative and hospice care. These and additional future studies could form the basis for eventually conducting a clinical trial testing whether regular insulin, which is inexpensive and available over the counter, can be an alternative therapeutic option for palliative and hospice care in some patients. Citation Format: Linda C. Meade-Tollin, Tom C. Tsang. The Warburg Effect suggests a palliative care approach to cancer therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5999.