LDN Put Cancer in Remission

Julian Whitaker, MD

Burton Berkson, MD, and colleagues published a paper last year describing four case histories of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who were treated with low-dose naltrexone (LDN, an inexpensive, immune-boosting drug) plus intravenous alpha lipoic acid (a potent antioxidant). Before we go on, you need to understand that the prospects for patients with pancreatic cancer are terrible. Most of them live only a few months after diagnosis, and the five-year survival rate is a dismal four percent. It’s essentially a “get your affairs in order” prognosis.

Two of the patients Dr. Berkson reported on, each with well-documented pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to the liver, were alive and well 78 and 39 months after presenting for treatment. A third patient who had the same diagnosis was disease-free, as evidenced by a PET scan, five months after beginning LDN/alpha lipoic acid therapy. The final patient had a history of B-cell lymphoma and prostate adenocarcinoma in addition to metastatic pancreatic cancer. After four months of treatment, his PET scan demonstrated no signs of cancer.

I’m also aware of good results in patients with melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and cancer of the breast, lung, prostate, kidney, and colon. Let me make it clear that I am not suggesting that LDN is a cure-all for any kind of cancer. But this safe, inexpensive drug is certainly a reasonable adjunctive therapy.

Recommendations

•  In addition to the conditions discussed above, LDN is an excellent therapy for autoimmune disorders, general health enhancement, and disease prevention.
• The suggested dose is 3–4.5 mg per day, taken at bedtime. LDN blocks the effects of narcotic painkillers and could cause withdrawal symptoms, so it should be started only after those drugs are completely out of the system.
• LDN requires a prescription and is available only from compounding pharmacies such as Gideon’s Drugs (212) 575-6868, Skip’s Pharmacy, (800) 553-7429, and McGuff Compounding Pharmacy, (877) 444-1133. If your doctor refuses to write a prescription, consider coming to the Whitaker Wellness Institute. For more information, call (866) 944-8253.

References

• Berkson BM, et al. Revisiting the ALA/N (alpha-lipoic acid/low-dose naltrexone) protocol for people with metastatic and nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer: a report of 3 new cases. Integr Cancer Ther. 2009 Dec;8(4):416–422.
• Brown N, et al. Low-dose naltrexone for disease prevention and quality of life. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Mar;72(3):333–337.

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