Clinical Evaluation of a New Form of Cancer Therapy (Atavistic Chemotherapy) Based on the Principles of Atavistic Metamorphosis (2011)

The cell behavior that the investigators regard as \"malignant,\" including: cell autonomy; invasion and digestion of surrounding normal tissues; migration and colonization of distant organs; ability to develop resistance to drugs, temperature, or radiation; and ability to kill the host, are not only characteristics of cancer cells, but of pathogenic and/or opportunistic unicellular organisms (bacteria, fungi and protozoa). Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), the father of modern pathology, first pointed out the resemblance between the biological behavior of cancer cells and that of single-celled organisms when causing infections. He thought, incorrectly, that cancer cells were cells infected with bacteria and had acquired their pathogenic behavior from them. Others later postulated that the behavior of cancer cells was likely due to the re-expression of past traits and behaviors (atavism) derived from their past evolutionary experience as independent, single-celled organisms from which all cells in multicellular organisms originated. In other words, the behavior of pathogenic unicellular organisms, including: unlimited replicative potential; capacity for invasion, migration, and metastases; abilities to evade the host\'s immune system, to generate multi-drug resistance; and to kill a host, are what the investigators define as \"cancer\" when one of the investigators cells re-express these past ancestral traits. This reversion or de-evolution of a differentiated cell to its ancestral undifferentiated, unicellular form has been named \"Atavistic Metamorphosis.\" This does not imply that cancer cells are bacteria, protozoa, or yeasts. It means that cancer cells express functions and/or behaviors similar to their ancestral parents, the unicellular organisms from which our cells originated. If this is true, a combination of drugs that are effective to eradicate certain unicellular organisms may work in cancer treatment. The principal objective of this study is to determine whether there is a benefit for patients with advanced, metastatic and terminal cancers to be treated with combinations of selected drugs conventionally used in medical practice to kill bacterial, fungal and protozoal cells.