Outraged, but not so surprised.
Non-toxic plant extracts effective against pancreatic cancer
The mission of the Lustgarten Foundation is “to advance the scientific and medical research related to the diagnosis, treatment and cure of pancreatic cancer”, according to its website. Therefore one would think that when this foundation received information that the scientific team at the Kansas University Medical Center had published an article entitled, “Inhibition of Pancreatic Cancer and Potentiation of Gemcitabine Effects by the Extract of Pao Pereira” in Oncology Reports Journal (doi: 10.3892/or.2013.2461), as well as another article entitled: “Antitumor Activities of Rauwolfia vomitoria Extract and Potentiation of Gemcitabine Effects Against Pancreatic Cancer” in Integrative Cancer Therapy 2014 Apr 24;13(3):217-225, they would be interested.
Indeed, pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies with very limited treatment options. Therefore, the information about the existence of non-toxic plant extracts out there, with a selective action against cancer cells, and exhibiting an excellent synergistic action with Gemcitabine chemotherapy, is, by every standard, a scientific breakthrough.
The Lustgarten Foundation, not interested?
But when the Lustgarten Foundation was approached on behalf of The Beljanski Foundation, it politely indicated that it was not interested in helping fund the next round of research. Really, they are not interested in learning more when, over the course of a study conducted in vivo on mice, the Pao pereira was seen to suppress tumor growth significantly, by up to 72% and in an orthotopic pancreatic cancer mouse model, PANC-1 tumor growth was significantly suppressed by the Rauwolfia vomitoria extract, and metastasis were completely inhibited?
One of the main reasons why pharmaceutical companies are failing the war on cancer is, I believe, because they are not looking in the right place to treat it. They are only looking for corporate profits, that only synthetic molecules can yield. There is no money to be invested in natural extracts, even if they offer better results than chemotherapy, even if they work in synergy with chemotherapy, even if they keep working on cells that have become chemo-resistant. And the rich foundations like the Lustgarten Foundation are not going to put their money into something that has not received the blessing of pharmaceutical companies.
This is the very reason why the role and mission of The Beljanski Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is so important: it will research and publish studies about natural compounds that can actually help treat cancer, not just help the ROI of Wall Street bankers.
Help The Beljanski Foundation fund its next round of research
In the face of the excellent pre-clinical results already published on pancreatic and ovarian cancers, The Beljanski Foundation is now funding a study on cancer stem cells. Please help support this important research program. Where the “big wigs” do not fulfill their mission, each individual can help make a difference!