Cancer cells are characterised by an increased proliferative rate and insensitivity to apoptosis. To survive they increase glucose uptake and glycolysis, resulting in high levels of lactate, which in turn modifies the tumour environment favouring metastasis and suppressing anti-tumour immunity. In addition they produce higher amounts of NADPH and divert some intermediates from the glycolytic pathway toward anabolic reactions to support cell growth and proliferation. Inhibition of the processes part of the altered metabolism have previously been shown in cellular, animal, human and epidemiology studies to have a dramatic effect on tumours by limiting the energetic flow and anabolic reactions and also by reversing the proliferative cancerous phenotype of the cells.
We propose to determine the safety and effectiveness of a regime of selected metabolic treatments for cancers in a real world setting on overall survival and changes in tumour size, tumour spread and number of tumours and/or cancer blood compared against appropriate external controls.
Four compounds in combination will be investigated in this protocol. These are Atorvastatin, Metformin, Doxycycline and Mebendazole. These compounds modulate the primary physiological outcomes outlined above such as cholesterol and glucose lowering, infection control and inflammation but they also have additional specific cancer related properties.