CANCER PREVENTION

In England, doctors have used Larginine supplementation in combination with conventional forms of treatment. They discovered that oral doses of L-arginine can accentuate the cancer-killing effects of radiation and chemotherapy on breast tumors. Forty-four breast cancer patients received 30 grams a day of L,arginine three days prior to each cycle of chemotherapy, followed by four to six cycles of radiotherapy. Using this protocol, 95 percent of the patients showed a positive response. Surgery was performed in 43 of the patients, and in 18 percent of the patients there was no further evidence of a tumor. In those where a tumor was still present, the destruction was graded as "severe" in 36 percent and "moderate" in 30 percent of the patients. (Br J Cancer 94;69(5):918-21) Some data indicates that L'arginine, through the creation of nitric oxide, has the ability to inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels). (Brit J Pharmacol 92;108:855.867)

This is one of the same mechanisms that makes shark cartilage effective against certain forms of cancer.