Dichloroacetic Acid

Other names : Dichloroacetate, DCA, Sodium dichloroacetate

Special Precautions of Dichloroacetic Acid

• The pure form, dichloracetic acid, is a strong acid that can burn the skin and injure tissues. It can cause spasms of the body's airways if it is inhaled.
• In the United States, only physicians involved in research with sodium dichloroacetate can obtain it legally, because it is not an approved medication or supplement. People may be able to participate in clinical trials with the treatment, and some have obtained it online, according to the ACS. The ACS warns that some suppliers sell only industrial or technical-grade sodium dichloroacetate, which is not manufactured with the same quality standards as the pharmaceutical-grade form.
• This substance may not have been thoroughly tested to find out how it interacts with medicines, foods, herbs, or supplements. Even though some reports of interactions and harmful effects may be published, full studies of interactions and effects are not often available. Because of these limitations, any information on ill effects and interactions below should be considered incomplete.
• Some studies of people who took DCA for reasons other than cancer have found that it may cause drowsiness, fatigue, upset stomach, and lowered blood sugar levels. Some people had changes in their blood chemistry over time that suggested that their livers may have been affected. Liver function seemed to improve after DCA was stopped. Additionally, some animal studies have indicated that dichloroacetate causes liver cancer.
• DCA may cause nerve damage in some people when taken for a long time (months or years) and can result in weakness and numbness in the arms and legs. This can lead to trouble walking. These nerve effects tend to get better over a period of weeks after the DCA is stopped. This effect has happened even in people who were taking thiamine (vitamin B1) to help prevent nerve damage.
• In mice and rats that were given high doses, the effect on the nerves did not get better after DCA was stopped. Liver damage was also seen at high doses. Dogs that got higher doses had eye problems, trouble walking, and trouble breathing; some had diarrhea and weight loss. DCA causes liver cancer in lab rodents when put in their drinking water. Keep in mind, though, that drugs do not always affect people and animals in the same way. It is hard to say without further testing which of these effects might also happen in people, and whether higher DCA doses might cause permanent damage.
• People who are very sick do not process the drug as quickly as those who are healthier, so that people with health problems may build up toxic amounts of DCA over time.
• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use DCA. People who are getting other cancer treatment with similar side effects (such as liver or nerve damage) might expect to have these effects worsened. Anyone who is taking DCA should be under a doctor's care to watch for liver damage and problems with blood chemistry that may result.
• It is not clear if DCA might also affect a person's risk for getting a new cancer. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed dichloroacetic acid as "likely" to be a cancer-causing agent in humans, although this is based mainly on studies in animals. Dichloroacetic acid is also on the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) list as a cancer-causing agent and as a cause of reproductive harm in men. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) does not have enough studies on people to be sure, but based on the evidence that is now available, says that dichloroacetic acid can "possibly" cause cancer in humans.

Benefits and uses of Dichloroacetic Acid are

• The only confirmed medical use for sodium dichloroacetate is for removing warts and other skin growths, according to the American Cancer Society. Researchers have tested it on humans for decreasing lactic acid buildup, or lactic acidosis, in rare diseases involving metabolism or caused by severe head injuries and malaria. Side effects have been a problem with this possible treatment.
• Cancer : A study by the University of Alberta researchers published in the January 2007 issue of "Cancer Cell" showed that dichloroacetate slowed the growth of cancer cells in a lab dish and that rats drinking water treated with this substance experienced much slower tumor growth than rats not drinking this type of water. The University of Alberta website explains that dichloroacetate does not affect noncancerous tissue, unlike most types of chemotherapy. The "Cancer Cell" study found that dichloroacetate kills brain, breast and lung cancer cells. Further laboratory and animal research noted by the ACS indicates sodium dichloroacetate effects on specific types of cancer. Radiation seems more effective against prostate cancer cells if they had already been exposed to dichloroacetate. Breast cancer cells in rats did not spread as much if the rats were given this substance, and mildly to moderately invasive endometrial cancer cells were more prone to dying off when exposed to dichloroacetate.