Research conducted at the University of Alberta in
Edmonton, Canada, indicates that Dichloroacetate
(DCA) holds great promise as a potential treatment for cancer—but it is not generating nearly as much excitement among pharmaceuticals as one would expect.
DCA is a generic drug originally developed to treat metabolic disorders. In
2007, the U of A researchers discovered that DCA reversed cancer
growth in rats and in test tubes. Scientists proved that DCA achieved
these anti-tumor effects by altering the metabolism of cancer. Since
then, several independent groups across the globe have confirmed the
Alberta team’s findings.
Researchers
then set out to test their findings on real patients who were
suffering from a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. During the trials, scientists
found that DCA either
shrank the tumors or arrested their growth in a number of patients
during the 18-month study. In addition to destroying brain tumors,
DCA also killed lung and breast cancer cells while leaving healthy
cells alone, unlike conventional chemotherapy drugs. The report on these finding was published on the Science
Translational Medicine website, an online journal of the American
Association of the Advancement of Science.
DCA is widely available, easy to use and is
much cheaper than the costly cancer drugs made by major
pharmaceutical companies. Whether DCA can live up to expectations and truly transform the way cancer is treated is still an open
question. There are known side effects that must be carefully monitored, and much research and medical trials remain to be done.
However, under capitalism, the necessary steps to answer that question
may not be taken at all.
Profits over people
U.S. pharmaceuticals are not investing in this research
because strong patent protections for the DCA compound, which is in the public domain, cannot be obtained. DCA’s use specifically for cancer treatment can be patented, but it is considered a much weaker patent protection—and therefore a much weaker guarantee of super-profits. Drugs with strong patent protections are the real money maker for drug companies, which care more
about their bottom line than the health and well-being of cancer
patients.
Without corporate funding, the clinical trials needed for FDA approval are unlikely to happen. The government does not fund trials of drugs such as DCA, leaving its fate at the mercy of the profit motive.
The pharmaceutical industry is a
major player in the criminal system of private health care in the United States. Drug companies benefit greatly from taxpayer-funded research and government-granted monopoly rights in
the form of patents. The claim that they need their vast profits to
research cures for cancer and other diseases is false. U.S. drug
makers spend more on marketing and administration than they do on
research—2.5 times more.
Cancer
drugs are huge money-makers for these pharmaceutical giants. And
ironically, the pollution resulting from the manufacture of cancer
drugs is suspected of causing cancer itself.
Cuba shows
another way
In
contrast, Cuba’s pharmaceutical industry is not controlled by
corporate monopolies driven by profit maximization. Rather,
centralized planning and social ownership of the means of production
have allowed Cuba to prioritize health care.
Today, socialist
Cuba is a leader in the production of cheap generics, providing
medicines as well as production assistance to countries that might
have otherwise been deprived of much-needed drugs.
Not only that, Cuba is also a
leader in pharmaceutical innovation. In 2008, Cuba registered a
therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of advanced lung cancer—the
first ever in the world of medical research. The development further
highlights that sharing rather than competing has greater potential
for life-saving results.
If the
U.S.-based pharmaceutical industry was subject to the same planning
and socialized ownership, DCA and other promising medical treatments would receive proper funding for research and trials based on whether they could potentially save lives, and not whether they stand to yield super-profits. Those that proved to be viable treatments would be made widely available.
The full potential of medical and scientific research cannot be realized as long as it is held hostage by private corporations.
Keep
profits out of health care!
