Has anyone tried CAAT

[Emelie]

I just read about this integrative therapy and was wondering if anyone has heard of this or has tried the diet? This is a description of what it is:
CAAT is an amino acid and carbohydrate deprivation therapy, using scientifically formulated amino acids, that arrests the growth of tumors and causes them to regress by altering or impairing the development of cancer cells. It is a six-to-eight month course of therapy that enhances chemotherapy and/or radiation, as well as lessening their toxic effects. CAAT, which can be taken in the comfort of one's home, has also been proven to be effective alone.

[hutchibk]

http://www.apjohncancerinstitute.org/caat.htm
http://www.apjohncancerinstitute.org...r/breast-c.htm

I googled and found these links explaining it. Not a bad read.
Curious. Interesting.

[vickie h]

Emelie, I just went to the CAAT site and found it extremely interesting. I will discuss this with both of my Oncologists. I also filled out a form for them to contact me ASAP. I will let you know where it goes from here, but I am alwaus interested in new research and there are some well known Dr's behind this one. Thanks so much for the info, Love, Vickie

[Emelie]

Glad to hear you will check with your onc. I am going to check with mine next week. It does make sense to me.
I will post what I find out too.
Happy Easter to All
Emelie

[SusieQ]

I will check with my Naturopathic Doctor and post a response if she has experience with the CAAT therapy. She has already helped me a great deal with a supplement therapy in conjunction with traditional therapy.

Like Vicky I was rather intrigued by CAAT (and also sent in my profile), probably because a number of the recommendations have been made by others in the past: Johanna Budwig's diet from the 1950's, for example. It was only when I read the following,

"The unique amino acid formula, which is the cornerstone of the CAAT protocol, comes in powdered form and in capsules. You will receive a 32-day supply of the formula, with unlimited technical as well as moral support for $900."

that I became suspicious. Lots of the recommendations for diet make sense, so I think I'll devise my own CAAT diet, substituting my protein (a small piece of salmon) for the $900 protein and continue to use the HER2 Forum's free moral support. I'm taking many of the supplements recommended anyway, so it's just a simple matter of eliminating the Vitamin B (which as Rhonda noted in another post turns me into a smoking dragon) and uping my consumption of olives (I love olives), and I'm there.

Thanks for posting this Emelie, Vickie,and B, as it has lots of good information and reminded me that I have to stop eating sugar.

[heblaj01]

Most of the recommandations (treatment,diet...) seem to make sense in the CAAT web site (except perhaps the use of fructose).
What is lacking are direct references to the publications of clinical trial reports.
For instance I could not reach any paper on one of the researchers called Lorincz. May be that research was taking place before the computer era.
I also failed to find any interesting message board report of the use of CAAT, although I must recognize it is impossible to be exhaustive in such a web search.

The only easily accessible small piece of factual info is this 2000 report I found in Life Extension regarding a small trial:

http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2000_10.html#caat (extract)

Controlled amino acid treatment fights cancer

Acting upon the knowledge that cancer needs specific amino acids to be able to survive, the A P John Institute for Cancer Research has formulated what it calls Controlled Amino Acid Treatment, or CAAT, to aid in the battle against cancer. In a study conducted to confirm earlier research which indicated that amino acid deprivation may be of benefit in cancer, nineteen patients with inoperable or highly metastatic cancer of the breast, lung, colon, brain, pancreas, ovaries who were given six months to live by their physicians were given CAAT along with conventional therapy. Three of the patients were treated with CAAT only. CAAT consists of an amino acid supplement in which certain amino acids necessary for cancer growth are eliminated, a low calorie, low carbohydrate diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and supplementation with the following: N-acetylcysteine, tocotrienols, genistein, calcium D-glucarate, L-carnitine and coenzyme Q10, plus an antioxidant formula if their cancer was slow growing. Those with faster growing cancers were advised against antioxidant supplementation because of the concern that it might inhibit apoptosis (cell death). (Tocotrienols should be excluded in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.)

All nineteen patients outlived their estimated remaining six months, and sixteen are still alive an average of four years later, with fifteen experiencing a reduction in tumor size or elimination of the cancer. Two who took CAAT alone without conventional therapy have been in remission for over six years. Two of the patients who did not survive nonetheless experienced a reduction in tumor size.

CAAT's diet may work partly on the same principle as calorie restriction, as an anticancer effect has been observed in animals placed on a calorie restricted diet. The intent of CAAT is to inhibit the formation of elastin needed for angiogenesis; impair glycolysis, thereby helping to starve the cancer cells, and to inhibit cancer cells' ability to manufacture DNA and various growth factors.

October 10, 2000

So it is difficult to come to a conclusion on the merits of CAAT.

I am hoping to try my mom who has pancreatic cancer on the CAAT diet. However, it is quite expensive. Has anyone figured out how to do this on their own? Please share.

For your information this abstract:
Revisiting the ALA/N (alpha-lipoic acid/low-dose naltrexone) protocol for people with metastatic and nonmetastatic pancreatic cancer: a report of 3 new cases.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20042414

I have not investigated this option or asked an oncologist for an opinion on this experimental treatment.

The previous report on this treatment in 2006:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16484716

[Jackie07]

Below is an abstract on the cellular level (for breast cancer):

Cell Biol Int. 2011 Feb 1;35(2):141-5.
Glucose deficiency reduces collagen synthesis in breast cancer MCF7 cells.

Cechowska-Pasko M, Krętowski R, Bańkowski E.
Source

Department of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry, Medical University of Biaystok, Biaystok, Poland. mapasko@gmail.com

Abstract

We decided to study the effect of glucose deprivation on collagen metabolism in MCF7 cells. The incorporation of [3H]-proline into collagenase-sensitive and hydroxyproline-containing proteins was used as an index of collagen synthesis, whereas pulse-chase technique was employed to evaluate the degradation of newly synthesized proteins. The MCF7 cells incubated in high glucose medium synthesized detectable amounts of collagenous proteins. Most of them were found in the cell layer.

The shortage of glucose resulted in about 30% reduction in collagen synthesis. The pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that proportionally less collagen was degraded in cultures incubated in low-glucose than in high-glucose media.

[Rich66]

Related to the carbs and cancer thread: http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39588