Professor Gerry Potter was originally scheduled to speak to the Health Action Network on the Latest Developments in Salvestrol Therapy but unforeseen circumstances necessitated his return to the UK. We are very grateful that Professor Dan Burke, his close colleague and collaborator, flew in from England to speak in his place. Professor Burke led the team which discovered that the CYP1B1 enzyme is unique to cancer cells, a landmark discovery in the history of cancer research [please see the Autumn edition of Health Action Magazine for a background article on Salvestrols by Professor Burke].

The following is my summary of some of the key points made during Professor Burke's lecture.

Cancer may be seen as the biggest failure of 20th Century medicine. The resultant treatments have been non-specific and fraught with major side effects. The way forward is two fold: to have a target for the therapy; and to change the paradigm of health to include diet.

The CYP1B1 enzyme provides the target. CYP1B1 is a cytochrome P450 enzyme that can be seen as both a cancer marker and a target for cancer therapy as it is exclusively found in cancer cells. Salvestrols highlight the need for changing the paradigm of health to include diet because salvestrols are food-based compounds that are metabolised by the CYP1B1 enzyme into anti-cancer agents. A natural, targeted mechanism is realised between salvestrols, CYP1B1 and the metabolites that result. The work of Professors Burke and Potter have provided us with an understanding of an elegant dietary mechanism for ridding the body of cancer cells.

Uncovering this mechanism has stimulated the search for more and more salvestrols and this search has been productive. Resveratrol was the first salvestrol discovered but it was quickly found to have a problematic dosage profile – resveratrol is effective at low doses but appears to be self-inhibiting at higher doses. Q40 is the main salvestrol in Fruit Force and Salvestrol Professional.

T31G is the salvestrol found in Salvestrol Gold. The central difference between these two salvestrols is that T31G is lipophilic, that is, T31G can diffuse through tissue, very readily enabling it to reach throughout the body with ease. Recent observations have led researchers at Nature's Defence to suspect that there is a synergistic relationship between Q40 and T31G resulting in greater activation and effectiveness than realised with either in isolation from the other. P55 is a member of the newest generation of salvestrols to be found. The potency of anti-cancer agents is measured in terms of their selectivity. That is, their ability to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. P55 has selectivity equal to or greater than that achieved by the synthetic pharmaceuticals that Prof. Potter developed to target CYP1B1. This is an extremely powerful, targeted natural compound.

With the discovery of this new and highly powerful new generation of salvestrols, researchers at Nature's Defence are working on a new product formulation. The new products will contain a salvestrol mixture of Q40, T31G, and P55. To this mixture biotin will be included to elevate the levels of CYP1B1 and niacin and magnesium will be added to stimulate the salvestrol activation reaction. At present it is not known when the new product will be available and formulation and manufacturing details are currently being finalised. The
new formulation will capitalise on the synergy of Q40 and T31G while adding the potency of P55.

Along with working on the formulation of new products, the researchers at Nature's Defence are working on a blood test to measure the levels of salvestrols in blood samples and the logistics of delivering this service to those taking salvestrols. It is hoped that this blood test, once realised, will aid in the formulation of regimens that optimise the levels of salvestrols throughout the day. The Health Action Network will be notified when these new developments are available.

Recently Prof. Burke has written on the subject of genetic polymorphisms and he provided some further insights during his lecture [see the Winter edition of Health Action Network]. Polymorphisms of CYP1B1 Dan Burke and Bayne Boyes in Vancouver Big Picture, Little Picture ~ At the core we are all connected 27 exist, and with every polymorphism one becomes concerned about how the activity of the enzyme is affected by the polymorphism.

There are two central classes of CYP1B1 genetic variability. The first class of CYP1B1 mutation is exceptionally rare and largely confined to South East Asia. These mutations result in primary congenital glaucoma and deactivation of CYP1B1 enzymatic activity. This is a very specific form of glaucoma and does not in any way imply that people suffering from the glaucoma that we typically see in the West will have deactivated CYP1B1 activity – in fact, the usual "western" glaucoma does not involve CYP1B1.

The second class of CYP1B1 variability is polymorphisms that affect up to 50% of the population. These polymorphisms do not significantly affect the enzymatic activity of CYP1B1 on salvestrols but they do produce an altered cancer risk for those affected.

The capacity crowd in attendance at the lecture enjoyed an in-depth and thorough presentation that resulted in a very interesting question period. Prof. Burke, although suffering from a cold and jet lag, enjoyed staying to answer each and every question through both a group session and one on one questioning. We are very grateful to Prof. Burke for keeping us informed of the latest developments in Salvestrol therapy.

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