Honokiol and How It Works

Dr. Kahn, of Toronto's Medicor Clinic, put me on a regimen of TM and Honokiol a month ago. The TM attacks tumours by removing copper from the body.

An average body copper reading, as seen in a ceruloplasim blood test is between 215 and 540. (British Columbia lab level)  My reading was over 300.  The removal of copper allows for the death of the blood cells which develop around tumours. (for US readings, divide by 10)

Dr.Kahn also put me on Honopure (see the top video)

The Cancer Fighting Strategies website quotes Michelle Cagan who writes:

"When it comes to cancer, there’s more than one way to beat it, so honokiol doesn’t stop at one. Instead, it attacks cancer on multiple fronts, fighting tumors head-on.

It starts by making sure the tumors can’t supply themselves with the nutrients they need to thrive. You see, like all other cells, cancer cells need food and oxygen (among other things) to stay alive. They get their supplies by creating their own blood vessel networks, a process called angiogenesis.


But honokiol simply doesn’t let that happen. An early in vitro study found that honokiol could prevent that angiogenesis, 1 and more. This research also uncovered another anti-cancer power in honokiol’s arsenal: the ability to prevent tumor growth (formally known as antiproliferative activity) in mice with angiosarcoma, an extremely malignant and aggressive cancer that usually grows and spreads alarmingly fast.

Another in vitro study 2 discovered one of the key ways that honokiol helps conquer many types of cancer. It prevents a cancer-sustaining enzyme called PLD (phospholipase D) from doing its job. Left unchecked, PLD keeps cancer cells from dying off (a process known as apoptosis). So when honokiol blocks it, cancer cells die.

Increased PLD activity has been linked to several cancers (breast, kidney and colon, for example) and cancer cell lines (lung, pancreatic, and prostate, to name a few). So honokiol’s ability to rein in this disease-promoting enzyme can have a remarkable effect on any cancer that relies on PLD to survive.

Fight colon cancer without making yourself sicker

Colorectal cancer strikes hundreds of thousands of people every year—often affecting people over 60 years old. And while this form of cancer can be treated successfully using mainstream methods (like surgery and chemotherapy), the treatments themselves can be painful and debilitating.

Honokiol fights and kills many forms of cancer—but studies have shown that it does this without harming healthy cells (unlike many forms of chemotherapy). So researchers investigated honokiol’s effect on one of the most common cancers—colorectal cancer.

One group of researchers studied mice with human colon cancer. They injected the mice with honokiol every other day, and the results were stunning. The honokiol blocked tumor growth without a toxic effect on the mice. In fact, this powerful natural treatment prolonged their lives. 3

Prostate cancer can be complicated, but the real solution is very simple

Prostate cancer takes more than one form, but most mainstream treatments only work on a single, specific form. Honokiol, it turns out, just may be able to treat prostate cancer regardless of the form: androgen status, for example, or p53 status. (Androgen status refers to hormone levels, and p53 is a gene that is sometimes altered in men with prostate cancer.)

An in vitro study found that honokiol effectively caused apoptosis in several kinds of prostate cancer cells, both androgen dependent and independent, as well as cells with varying p53 status.

Bolstered by that success, they progressed their research to an animal study. There, the scientists found that treating mice with honokiol three times a week halted prostate tumor growth. The researchers also found a higher rate of cancer cell death. And more prostate cancer cell death combined with less tumor growth is exactly what you want when fighting this disease.

And unlike the mainstream options—surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy—honokiol did not cause weight loss or any other side effects. 4

Honokiol takes on even ‘incurable’ cancers

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is one of the toughest cancers to treat and beat. According to the mainstream medical community, it remains incurable.

But some very insightful researchers refused to accept that. And based on honokiol’s success against other cancer cell lines, they decided to see how well it would work fighting B-CLL cells. Their intuition paid off.

Their in vitro study 5 found that honokiol sets off the death cycle of these cancer cells, and that the extract was more toxic toward the B-CLL cells than healthy cells. On top of that, honokiol also improved the anti-cancer effects of chemotherapy drugs (fludarabine, cladribine, and chlorambucil).

And that’s not the only difficult cancer that honokiol helps conquer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, “For most patients with non-small cell lung cancer, current treatments do not cure the cancer.” And squamous lung cancer fits right into that category. While current mainstream therapies remain largely ineffective, honokiol (at least in lab tests) appears to have a very deadly impact on these cancer cells.

When researchers tested honokiol against squamous lung cancer cells in an in vitro study, their work paid off. The honokiol treatment set off a chain reaction that led to apoptosis, cancer cell death. 6"

Citations:
1 Bai, X., et al. Honokiol, a small molecular weight natural product, inhibits angiogenesis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2003.
2 Garcia, A., et. al. Honokiol suppresses survival signals mediated by Ras-dependent phospholipase D activity in human cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2008; 14(13)
3 Chen, F., et al. Honokiol: a potent chemotherapy candidate for human colorectal carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol. 10(23):3459-3463, 2004.
4 Hahm, E., et. al. Honokiol, a constituent of oriental medicinal herb magnolia officinalis, inhibits growth of PC-3 xenografts in vivo in association with apoptosis induction. Clin Cancer Res. 14(4), 2008.
5 Battle, T. E., et al. The natural product Honokiol induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. Blood. 2005.
6 Yang, S. E., et al. Down-modulation of Bcl-XL, release of cytochrome c and sequential activation of caspases during honokiol-induced apoptosis in human squamous lung cancer CH27 cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 63(9):1641-1651, 2002.

To view this article at the Cancer Fighting Strategies website, please click here.

One Step Forward - One Step Back - Two Steps Forward

As many of you dear readers and friends know, I have been taking treatment for colo-rectal cancer which metamorphosised and took on its own, unpredictable life after that.  It popped up on the surface of my liver and a wedge was cut out, and a follow up CT scan revealed that it immediately took on a new life in my lungs.

I will be upfront.  I have tried a number of  hopeful  "potentially" good,  natural cures - from dandelion root, to diet, to taking a half dozen reishi capsules a day for about 8 months, to maple syrup and baking soda, and to muscadine grapeseed.  I am sure they are wonderful healing agents - for some people.  But, in the end none have been successful.  I eventually found my way into Dr. Akbar Khan's office in North York's (north of Toronto), Medicor Cancer Clinic.

I often think of the passing of Jack Layton, the former leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, (Canada's Official Opposition party) who died of cancer.  Jack had been treated for prostate cancer and in the end before he died, refused to publicly reveal what his cause of death was.  Why?  He didn't want to discourage anyone on their trip. Jack took the high road.

I began taking DCA treatment, and was incrementally increasing my dosage when I experienced problems with side effects.  It happens with some people.  I got a tingling sensation in one leg and in my feet.
Dr. Kahn moved me from DCA to taking TM, a new drug out of the University of Michigan.

I experienced leg cramps for about a week, and these eventually went away.  I've now been on TM for 10 days.  To my surprise, my most recent CEA blood test revealled a decline by 50% - in less then a month.
I have never had such a sizeable shift even when taking chemotherapy.

Is it working? I will take it for what its worth. Something is happening. Time will tell.

But the point is this - I expect that anyone who has lived with long term cancer knows what its like to take one step forward, and one step back. Two steps forward, one step back. Two steps back and one step forward.  Speaking personally, its been a slow slog through a muddy battlefield. But the battle is worth it. Pass me up the bullets mamma.