I have been following the progress of the clinical trials of sodium dichloroacetate as a potential treatment for cancer through the public media. I am thankful that Health Canada would take the initiative to fund this research and would like to offer a contribution of my own.Although I have no medical training, nor received more than a basic education in organic chemistry, I have been performing my own independent research and have come up with a hypothesis regarding DCA's effect on restoring mitochondrial function to cancerous cells. I also have a suggestion for a possible natural compound that I believe may serve the same function while minimizing the toxic side effects in sufficiently small doses.
The Electrokinetic Properties of DCA
My hypothesis is based around the electrokinetic properties of the dichloroacetate ion and how it might affect the overall chemical concentration gradient within cells. In the attached diagram, I have provided an atomic mass ratio comparison of the acetate and dichloroacetate ions, as well outlined the possible spin states that this arrangement of atoms could produce.
As you can see, in the chlorinated acetate the center of mass for rotation has moved from being centered towards the carboxyl group to the halogenated carbon. This new axis of rotation would give carboxyl group a functional character not present in the normal acetate ion, thereby magnifying its electrokinetic properties. I hypothesize that within cells this ion then plays a role in altering chemical gradients as described by electrophoretic theory, restoring a key balance which reactivates mitochondrial function, leading to the eventual apoptosis of the cancerous cell.
Diodoacetate Ion as a natural analog for DCA
While researching this possibility it occurred to me that a similar ion, diodoacetate (DIA), may serve the same functional role within cells while producing diminished toxic effects. The above image compares the atomic mass ratios of dichloroacetate with diodoacetate.
As you can see, this atomic mass ratio of the halogenated carbon to the carboxyl group is much larger, which should magnify the electrokinetic influence of the carboxyl group even further. The only mention of this ion I've discovered describes its use in the separation of proteins in the presence of this particular compound. (http://www.jbc.org/cgi/reprint/268/26/19422.pdf - Page 2, ) Although I have not been able to discover any mention of this ion being isolated in nature, my second hypothesis is in regards to this iodine-based acetate ion existing in ocean plant life and already being consumed as a regular dietary supplement in the Asian world.
Natural Sources for DIA
Brown algae like kelp and seaweed are natural concentrators of iodine from sea water. They are unique among the algae in their production of differentiated tissues. Also, certain members of the brown algae family can grow up to a half a meter a day, up to a length of 80 meters. This high growth rate would seem to require a means for combating cancer-induced metastasizing within the organism's tissues. Unlike within the human body, in which cancerous cells migrate into other tissues and organs once cellular cohesion has diminished, in seaweed or kelp metastasizing of tissues could lead to the total dissolution of the organism as its cells migrate out into the surrounding water. I propose that the brown algae evolved to accumulate iodine, the heaviest of the organic elements, to produce this acetate analog and maintain a proper electrokinetic balance and chemical gradient within their cells.
Kelp and seaweed have already been noted as possibly possessing anti-cancer properties, although the active biological component has never been identified. Cancer rates amongst countries that consume members of the brown algae family, such as China or Japan, are the lowest in the world. Yet, they also tend to have the highest rates of gastrointestinal cancers. This electrokinetic theory of cancerous cells suggests that cells exposed to a unusually high level of these ions would leave their internal chemical balanced shifted into an equally unhealthy state, leaving the cells and tissues regularly exposed to these higher doses at an equal risk for developing cancer.
Update:
I found a lab that can synthesize this stuff for $6800 for a 200 gram sample. Some people have reported success with DCA doses in range 10 milligrams per day, so for $6800 you'd get about 20,000 daily doses of DIA. Hell of a lot cheaper than chemo, which is why pharmaceutical companies aren't interested in researching DCA in the first place. At $11,889 for 8 weeks of FOLFOX treatment (When will the US flinch at Cancer Drug Prices?), there's obviously no money in researching possible cancer cures, just treatments.
However, because the compound includes iodine, this is probably too large of a daily intake. Recommended iodine intake is in the range of micrograms per day, but the toxicity level is around 2-3 grams, so it's hard to say. If the daily recommended intake is in the range of micrograms, you'd get 20,000,000 ten microgram doses out of a 200 gram sample. For $6800, you could provide enough of this dietary supplement to last one person 54,794 years. Or 547 people who live 100 years a piece.
And of course, this also may be available for free in fresh seaweed.
