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CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS:
A Chinese Herbal Formula for the Treatment of Pain and Associated Symptoms of Cancer

Dr. Sherman Shu-Seng Lai
C.M.D., Dr.Ac.. B.Sc.

Oriental Healing Arts and Health Institute
15 Surrey St. W. Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIH-3R3

Presented at:

THE 1995 TORONTO CONFERENCE OF THE WORLD
ASSOCIATION OF CHINESE MEDICINE

ABSTRACT:

Approximately 8 million new cases of Cancer are reported yearly. Present mainstream methods of cancer pain control have offered at best disappointing results, as they are usually accompanied by adverse side-effects and drug dependency.

As an alternative approach, acupuncture, while proven effective for cancer pain, is often not accessible to cancer patients, who suffer from the associated symptoms of nausea, fatigue, insomnia and weakness.

Recognizing these facts, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made the control of cancer pain a primary objective for the year 2000, stipulating a preference that a safe, oral, fast-acting, effective treatment with few or no side-effects be available to those afflicted.

The objectives of the Present clinical trials are threefold: to use accessible, alternative, natural Chinese herbal formula SPES^TM to provide relief from i) cancer pain, ii) the disease-associated symptoms of fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, insomnia and general debility, and iii) to suppress further cancer metastasis.

Forty cancer subjects received SPES^TM orally for a two month course of treatment. Results indicate. that of the subjects treated, 74% had significant pain relief, 88% had significant improvement in one or more of the disease-associated symptoms, and four cases of cancer were found to be in remission. Results also indicated that overall quality of life for SPES^TM patients improved almost immediately - within 24 to 48 hours of starting on SPES^TM: 88% of the subjects reported improvement with the symptoms and/or pain associated with cancer.

Overall, these preliminary results demonstrate SPES^TM to be an effective, quick-acting natural treatment for controlling cancer pain, reducing the associated symptoms, and suppressing metastasis. SPESTM appears to be a valuable alternative treatment for those afflicted with cancer: it is accessible to patients and is without the adverse side-effects and dependency factors associated with many other medical treatments for cancer.

Key words- Cancer symptom relief, metastasis suppression, Chinese herbal formula, SPES^TM

INTRODUCTION:

Control Of Cancer Pain Must be of Paramount concern, considering the millions, afflicted with this devastating disease, Recognizing that approximately eight million cases of cancer are being reported yearly, the World Health Organization has stipulated that health scientists must find a safe, oral, fast-acting. effective treatment, with little or no side-effects for eliminating cancer pain. The purpose of the present clinical trials is to evaluate the efficacy of a Chinese herbal formula SPES^TM (see APPENDIX A) with respect to its ability to: i) significantly reduce cancer associated pain, ii) significantly relieve cancer associated symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, nausea, insomnia, and loss of appetite, and iii) to suppress further cancer metastasis.

SUBJECTS:

Forty cancer patients, both female and male, were surveyed subsequent to receiving SPES^TM treatment. Each patient had been diagnosed with one of the fourteen types of cancer surveyed (see APPENDIX B), ranging from cancer's early to terminal stages. The subject's ages ranged from 19 years to 80 years. Prior to receiving SPES^TM treatment patients reported having pain and one or more of the cancer associated symptoms.

METHOD:

Each of the forty subjects was treated orally with the SPES^TM Chinese herbal formula. Two 300 mg capsules were ingested by subjects B.I.D. (twice per day), 2 capsules a.c. in the a.m. (before a meal), and 2 capsules a c. in the evening (before a meal). The course of treatment for subjects ranged from seven days to four months, with the average treatment length being two months time. Subsequent to SPES^TM treatment each subject was evaluated using the SPES^TM Patient Questionnaire (see APPENDIX C) to determine overall efficacy of the product with respect to pain and associated cancer symptom relief, as well as to record cases of metastasis suppression.

RESULTS:

Preliminary results of the present clinical trials indicate the following:

Cancer Associated Pain: of the twenty three subjects treated, seventeen(74%) reported significant pain relief

Cancer Associated Symptoms: of the forty subjects treated (88%) reported significant improvement in one or more of the associated symptoms. Improvement measured by a positive change of 50% or more in associated symptoms. (APPENDIX D).

Metastasis Suppression: of the forty subjects treated, four were confirmed subsequent to SPES^TM treatment as being in complete remission.

Clinical trial results also demonstrate that overall quality of life for 88% of the SPES^TM subjects improved within 24 to 48 hours of starting SPES^TM.

INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION:

Chinese herbs have long been used in the treatment of cancer but little Scientific research has been done to evaluate their effect.

It is always difficult to evaluate treatment of any disease such as cancer when the disease itself remains poorly understood. Design of a rigorously controlled research trial is seriously hampered and unethical not only because the disease's cause remains obscure but also because, placebo testing is inappropriate with regard to the serious and terminal conditions faced by those patients with cancer.

The present clinical trials, while preliminary in nature and based on a small sample of patients, seem to indicate that effective treatment for cancer associated pain and symptoms may be available through an oral treatment program of the Chinese herbal formula SPES^TM.

In 74% of the sample cases, SPES^TM treatment appears to have successfully met the mandate and objectives set forth by the World Health Organization for effective cancer pain relief. The present clinical trials have found SPES^TM to be fast-acting. Positive results for both cancer associated pain and symptom relief were reported within 24 to 48 hours of treatment onset. Comparatively, few other modes of treatment provide such dramatic relief for cancer associated pain and symptoms within such a short time frame.

Also significant is the fact that within these clinical trials no adverse side effects were reported or found. This finding suggests an advantage to using SPES^TM over other conventional treatments such as morphine; which often elicits adverse side effects such as drug dependency, respiratory depression, and decreased mental alertness. SPES^TM administration was also observed to minimize the adverse effects often associated with such therapies as chemotherapy and radiation. This may indicate a valuable role in alleviating discomforts associated with more aggressive treatment regimens.

SPES^TM treatment may also be advantageous over other alternative treatments such as acupuncture, because of its accessibility. Cancer patients who are weak, debilitated, and nauseous may not be strong enough to receive the benefit of acupuncture but are easily able to receive SPES^TM. orally (or in more terminally ill cases rectally) regardless of the type or stage of cancer.

Another characteristic of SPES^TM that may make it an attractive alternative to other cancer treatments is the finding that significant improvement was not just limited to the cancer associated pain relief itself. In the present clinical trials, 88% of the patients also found significant improvement in their cancer associated symptoms, such as improved sleep patterns, and Increased appetite and energy levels. The benefit suggested here is that SPES^TM ,as a single treatment mode may be more diverse in its applications for those afflicted with cancer.

Perhaps, the most interesting observation in this study was that four of the patients confirmed that their cancer was in complete remission after the use of SPES^TM. The implications of this observation are threefold: 1) SPES^TM may play an important role in suppressing further cancer metastasis, 2) SPES^TM may completely reverse the cancerous condition, and 3) SPES^TM is deserving of more serious attention and study amongst the scientific health community.

CONCLUSION:

In Summary, the author of this paper would like to reiterate that because of the preliminary nature of this study, and the small size of the clinical sample, it is hoped that future research and evaluation of SPES^TM will result.

It is unfortunate, that millions of people suffer and die each year, as a result of the devastating and far-reaching effects of cancer. SPES^TM is an encouraging Chinese herbal formula that appears to greatly improve the quality of life for those under its treatment.

APPENDIX A:

Composition of SPES^TM

APPENDIX B:

Case Study Information

APPENDIX D:

Patient Responses To SPES^TM Treatment

N = Total Cases = 40