Quantitative assay of plasma and urinary peptides as an aid for the evaluation of cancer patients undergoing antineoplaston therapy.

Plasma and urinary peptides can be reproducibly assayed by a procedure involving reverse phase chromatography on a column of C18 and HPLC on a column of sulfonated polystyrene. The average plasma and urinary peptide levels of normal persons are 79.4 nmoles/ml and 73.6 nmoles/mg creatinine, respectively. Ninety-one percent of 108 confirmed cancer patients referred to the authors' Clinic for antineoplaston therapy showed various degrees of deficiency of peptides in the plasma, and 98% of the patients had plasma/urine peptide ratios below the normal ranges of 0.82 to 1.15, indicating that the overwhelming majority of cancer patients excreted greater than normal amounts of peptides in the urine. When a patient responded favourably to the antineoplaston therapy, the excessive urinary excretion of peptides was reversed. Plasma levels of peptides and plasma/urine peptide ratios showed a steady increase after one to two months and eventually approached those of normal persons. On the other hand, if a patient was not responding to the antineoplaston therapy, the excessive urinary excretion of peptides remained unaltered or even became greater. Patients in remission following antineoplaston therapy tended to show plasma and urinary peptide levels comparable to those of normal persons. Thus the quantitative assay of plasma and urinary peptides provides a useful parameter for the evaluation and prognosis of cancer patients undergoing antineoplaston therapy. A growing colon tumour was found to have the lowest level of peptides among mice tissues analysed, suggesting that deficiency of inhibitory peptide components may be associated with malignant growth. The results of this study are consistent with the interpretation that a deficiency of antineoplastons may be required for malignant cells to proliferate, and the consequent malignant growth further aggravates this deficiency. Antineoplaston therapy can halt such a "vicious cycle" and induce long-term remission in some cancer patients.