Burzynski Clinic
Stanisław Rajmund Burzyński ( born January 23, 1943 in Lublin, Poland) is an American doctor and biochemist Polish origin. He became famous for antineoplastons, a group of peptides and their derivatives, which he uses as an alternative cancer treatment since 1976. However, the effectiveness of these substances is controversial and most academic organizations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration describe the treatment as scientifically unproven.
- 4.1 warnings by the FDA
- 4.2 threats against critics
Life
1967 graduated from Burzyński to study medicine at the Medical Academy of Lublin with distinction. In the same year he carried out investigations on the blood of cancer patients, noting a difference between the peptides and metabolites compared to those from the blood of healthy people. He now looked at these altered materials as a possible trigger for cancer growth. In 1968 he received the title of Doctor D. Msc. in Biochemistry and thus became one of the youngest people, both MD and Ph.D. received in Poland. From 1970 to 1977 he worked as a researcher and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where his research was partially funded by the National Cancer Institute. Among other things, it was during this activity the author and co - author of 16 publications, with five of them dealt with peptides and their effects on cancer. Due to their alleged effects on neoplastic or cancerous cells, he gave the name of these peptides antineoplastons.
Burzyński Clinic
The Burzyński clinic is a clinic in Houston, Texas, USA, which was founded in 1977 by Stanisław Burzyński and offers scientifically unproven cancer treatments. There, to date more than 8000 patients were treated. Stanisław Burzyński is President of the Research Institute " Burzyński Research Institute ", which he founded in 1984. There he continues to operate research at Antineoplastonen. In addition, he holds numerous U.S. patents on its methods of treatment.
Therapy with Antineoplastonen
Antineoplastons are a group of peptides and derivatives thereof that uses Stanisław Burzyński for his alternative cancer treatment. This is a form of chemotherapy. The word is derived from neoplasia. He began researching antineoplastons after he found significant differences in the peptides in the blood of cancer patients and a control group. He identified antineoplastons first in human blood, and later in the urine. Early series of Burzyńskis treatment were isolated from urine, which was collected in a Texas park. Since 1980, the compounds are prepared synthetically.
The first group of peptides identified Burzyński, he called Antineoplaston A-10 (3- phenylacetylaminopropionate -2 ,6- pipedidinedione ). A- 10 antineoplaston AS2 - 1, was derived is a mixture in a ratio of 4 parts of phenylacetic acid to phenylacetylglutamine part. Phenylacetylglutamine is stated on the website of the Burzyński clinic as an active ingredient.
Clinical trials
Therapy with Antineoplastonen has been available since 1984, but is not allowed due to the absence of clinical evidence of their effectiveness for general use. The chemical compounds are not licensed as drugs but are within clinical trials in Burzyńskis clinic and administered at the research institute. Although Burzyński claims that he successfully treat a variety of diseases with antineoplaston combinations, there is no convincing evidence for the clinical effectiveness of this method. Oncologists designated Burzyńskis studies as deficient. Independent scientists were unable to replicate the reported results Burzyński.
There is no scientifically proven evidence in the form of randomized placebo- controlled trials for the efficacy of Antineoplastonen for the treatment of cancer. The Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) has antineoplastons for the treatment of any single disease admitted. The American Cancer Society found for antineoplastons no evidence of a beneficial effect in the treatment of cancer and has recommended no money to invest in this treatment. An article from 2004 describes the treatment as " refuted therapy".
Prior to 1997, patients in the Burzyński clinic were treated easily without external observation. After a run through the FDA, which limited the discharge of Antineoplastonen only to patients in clinical trials, Burzyński designed a single large study, which included all of his patients. These activities have been published by Burzyńskis private attorney who called the procedure a ruse in order to continue to treat the patients with Antineoplastonen can. Furthermore Burzyński have personally created 72 test plans to each type of cancer that has been treated to date or Burzyński wanted to treat in the future to be able to handle. From these studies, it was only completed a single and this was not published.
Publications
Burzyński published some positive studies on the effect of Antineoplastonen that were criticized by reviewers as " Design of an unclear ". The National Cancer Institute reports that so far no positive randomized controlled trials published in peer -reviewed scientific journals were published. The evidence for the application of Antineoplastonen in the treatment of cancer itself is not clear after more than 35 years.
Effectiveness
The scientific consensus, represented inter alia by the American Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK, rated Antineoplaston therapy as unproven, the Burzyński clinic as expensive and the probability for the effectiveness of this treatment as low. The therapy is indeed advertised as a harmless alternative to conventional cancer therapies, but it is a form of chemotherapy with significant side effects.
Burzyński tried to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of antineoplaston combinations for various diseases in clinical trials, but these have not produced any clear evidence of their effectiveness. The FDA has none of these products for the treatment of a disease permitted. The American Cancer Society says since 1983 that no efficacy for the treatment of cancer have been demonstrated for this therapy and recommends that you use these products, as serious health risks among users may arise. A medical report from 2004 refers to the treatment with Antineoplastonen as " refuted therapy".
In 1998, three oncologists from the newsletter " The Cancer Letter" commissioned independent opinion on Burzyńskis conduct research. They came to the conclusion that the studies were poorly designed and not interpretable. They are " so poor that can not be determined whether the treatment really works." In addition to criticism of Burzyńskis research methods, found the oncologist significant, possibly life -threatening poisoning in patients who used this form of therapy.
Legal Issues
In Texas itself Burzyński had to answer to the court to conduct a non- FDA approved treatment, and antineoplastons to sell. 1998, a restriction was imposed on advertising with Antineoplastonen. Burzyński appealed and justified this with the right to freedom of speech. The Court of Appeal upheld the original verdict on the grounds that its advertising advertising for non- legal methods. In addition, he was convicted for fraud, when he called for the financial takeover of an illegal Cancer treatment by a health insurance.
Warnings by the FDA
Burzyńskis use and application of Antineoplastonen as unapproved cancer therapy was considered by the Food and Drug Administration and the Texas Attorney General's Office as unlawful. The sale and application of treatment were limited.
2009 gave the FDA found in a warning letter to the Burzyński Research Institute that the Burzyński Institutional Review Board, the Ethics Committee of the Research Institute, the relevant legislations and regulations of the FDA have regard to the protection of the subjects not respected. The letter identified a number of specific defects, including the approval of research without ensuring that the risk to patients was minimized. Furthermore, the institute had provided neither the prescribed written records concerning the functioning and documentation, nor carried out the mandatory continuous review of the studies.
In another published in 2012 warning has been criticism that the Burzyński Clinic untested medicines to apply as a " safe and effective ". The website, including news releases and embedded videos, including assertions hold, apply the antineoplastons for those application areas as safe and effective for which they are being checked only. Consequently, the indications, precautions, side effects, dosages, and routes of administration are not yet determined at this time. Consequently, the treatment should not be advertised as safe and effective. The letter calls for the setting of non-conforming advertising activities, including the testimonials and interviews with Burzyński itself
In November 2013, the documentation of a survey conducted between January and March 2013 inspection has been approved by the FDA. This pointed to, among other things, that not all side effects that were reported by study participants were referred to the sponsor. Furthermore, the welfare and safety of the patients was not guaranteed. 48 participants received 2013 102 overdoses between 1 January 2005 and 22 February. Burzyński had prepared or performed no adequate case documentation. Tumor measurements of all study participants before and during treatment were destroyed and not available for inspection by the FDA. The declaration of informed consent verabsäumte, additional costs that would be incurred by participating in the study, to be mentioned.
Threats against critics
In November 2011, a music producer and writer for the British newspaper "The Observer" tried to collect £ 200,000 in donations in order for his four year old niece who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, to fund the treatment in Burzyńskis clinic. Several bloggers reported on other cases in which similar large sums of money were invested in the treatment and the patient died. Marc Stephens, who described himself as a representative of Burzyński Clinic, the authors by e -mail accused of slander and demanded that their reports on Burzyński be removed from their sites. One of the bloggers was Rhys Morgan, a 17- year-old student from Wales. Another was Andy Lewis, who criticized the Burzyński clinic on his blog " Quackometer ".
Documentary
About Stanisław Burzyński and Burzyński Clinic in 2010 and 2013, two films were produced. Director, Writer and speaker was Eric Merola, an art director for TV commercials. The first film, " Burzynski, Cancer is Serious Business ", was harshly criticized by film critics. According to "The Village Voice " it violates any basic rule of ethical filmmaking and the producer was either unusually credulous or understand the difference between documentary and advertising not because he 'll get a word only Burzyńskis trailer. "Variety" described the film as a paranoid conspiracy theory. " Houston Press " criticized the one-sided presentation of the antineoplaston therapy.
In June 2013 BBC Panorama beamed a documentary about Stanislaw Burzyński entitled " Curing cancer or ' selling hope' to the vulnerable? " from. The film argues that Burzyński for 20 years exploiting a legal loophole in order to treat his patients with Antineoplastonen can. He write it in clinical studies, so he needed a license for his treatment.