No Patent = No Profit

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 4 months ago, since then I've
been on Noscapine for 3 months and my PSA has dropped from 14.8 to
3.2.

My Doctor has prescribed this to a number of men some pre treatment
and to some that have seen their PSA rising after RP or Radiation
treatment. I'm in Scotland so I don't know if this cough medicine is
prescribed anywhere else? seems that it has been around for a long
time, but is somewhat ignored by the big drug companies because they
can't patent it, so they can't profit from it.

Have any of you used Noscapine? I don't have any side effects at all,
the only effect so far seems to be a lowering of my PSA. They say it
has the ability to kill several types of cancer, but is particularly
effective against prostate cancer.

http://www.pcref.org/MedInsight%20-%...e%20Review.pdf

Ben.

Noscapine also kills breast cancer according to a study in PubMed.
There is some credibility to this according to pub med research on
cancer.

Could be a treatment that keeps psa low.

Wow, what are the pharmacuetical companies going to do if we just have
to take an inexpensive cough supressant to keep our psa low. No more
surgery, radiation, hormones. Just mail order from Europe Some
pharmacuetical company will probably take an analog from Noscapine
market that it is more effective and sell it for $500 a tablespoon.

Well this news is better than the ones that have been coming out
lately.

Did some research.

Below is a post from 2002 on our board


Noscapine is used as a cough medicine in Europe and many countried
worlwide. It is an opium derivative - a non-addictive one and not
controlled by the DEA.

A few years ago it was discovered at Emory University that noscapine
induces apoptosis in cancer cells i.e. kills cancer cells with little
or no toxicity to normal cells.


Since noscapine has been on the market for 50 years, it is difficult
to patent it. However, there is a process of patenting a drug for a
new indication, and finally a couple of months ago, Emory Univeristy
was granted the patent. Until a patent is granted, human studies
cannot be published as that will invalidate the patent.


The following comes from the Walter Payton Cancer Research Fund which
is sponsoring a trial at USC in Los Angeles.
================================================== ==============
Phase I/II Study of Noscarpine for Patients with Low Grade
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Refractory to
Chemotherapy
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA


Noscapine is a cough suppressant used widely throughout Europe. At
higher doses, it has been shown to have anti-cancer activity in
laboratory animals. Mice who were injected with human tumors had a
significant shrinkage of their cancer after treatment with noscapine.
Several anecdotal cases already exist of patients who have failed
multiple standard chemotherapy agents and have responded to
noscapine.
At least one of the patients remains free of disease several years
after taking noscapine.


Potential Patient Impact: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma remains a difficult
disease to cure; current treatments are highly toxic. Noscapine is a
well-tolerated drug that may offer great potential for cure in
patients who would otherwise die.
================================================== ===============


The following trials were carried at at Harvard Medical School


Ghosh K., Wild R., Carson L.F., Twiggs L.B., and Ramakrishnan S.
Noscapine, a novel agent that induces cytotoxicity and apoptosis in
cervical cancer cells. (Manuscript in Preparation)


Ghosh K., Wild R., Carson L.F., Twiggs L.B., and Ramakrishnan S.
Noscapine: a new drug with antitumor activity in ovarian cancer.
(Manuscript in Preparation)


================================================== =================


The following published studies on animals are on medline. It seems
to
work in all the cancers in which it was tested - which are many.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...eve&db=PubMed&...


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...eve&db=PubMed&...


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...eve&db=PubMed&...


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...eve&db=PubMed&...


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...eve&db=PubMed&...

Dave P wrote:

> Wow, what are the pharmacuetical companies going to do if we just have
> to take an inexpensive cough supressant to keep our psa low. No more
> surgery, radiation, hormones. Just mail order from Europe Some
> pharmacuetical company will probably take an analog from Noscapine
> market that it is more effective and sell it for $500 a tablespoon.

Ya think? Consider statins (prescription HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors),
the most common prescription drug on the market as of 2004. They very
effectively lower bad cholesterol and triglycerides and raise good
cholesterol . . . at a very steep cost. Then consider the common OTC
supplement red yeast rice, used since 800 AD by the Chinese. Its primary
active ingredient? The same HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor found in
prescription statins and the first natural substance ever filed for a
patent (Merck). And that doesn't even address the growing doubt about
cholesterol's role in heart attacks.

I.P.