Please Help! Need info on Wobenzym for friend with cancer

[Mastiff Mama]

My friend was diagnosed with lung cancer last November. She had surgery to remove the tumor and received chemo. Things were looking good and she was feeling great (hair starting to grow back, energy returning, etc.) until last week. Extreme nausea and dizziness forced her to go to the doctor on Thursday and she discovered that she has three tumors in her brain.

She is an amazing woman and is doing all she can to fight this disease including following the diet prescribed in the book "Treating Cancer with Nutrition." This book includes the following sentence, "Taking enzyme supplements (especially WOBENZYM) in between meals can help dissolve the coating around the cancer that makes it invisible to the immune system." (She has also begun full-head radiation.)

Does anyone have any experience with this supplement? There are a zillion online vendors that offer it for sale. I am trained as a scientist and a search on PubMed found a few references that are almost 10 years old. The initial results from small studies seemed promising, but I am curious as to why there is nothing recent in the literature.

Any help you can offer (including prayers) is welcome. Thank you.

[Robyncz]

I'm no help at all, since I've never even heard of the stuff, but I wanted to bump this up in case someone else knows something.

I also wanted to say I'm sorry about your friend. I hope you find the information you're looking for, and I really hope her treatment is effective.

[DocAgocs]

I've heard of this stuff but don't know a thing about it. IMHO, you do whatever you can to beat cancer as long as it won't interfere with the other treatments. Sure, maybe it doesn't work for EVERYONE, but that doesn't mean don't try it! I have patients who've "beaten cancer" with everything under the sun, so there is no formula. A friend's dad has had a lifelong problem with skin cance and prostate cancer. His PSA was through the roof last year and the friend bought his dad a Rife generator. After a few weeks his PSA was normal and hasn't been a problem since. Who knows!

The only herbal things that make a pretty compelling argument for cancer that I am familiar with are aloe vera and burdock. I'm sure there are others. A complex of burdock, Sheep sorrel, slippery elm and rhubarb seems to have anti-cancer properties. This is essentially what Essiac Formula is, developed by a Canadian nurse decades ago. Worth looking into. High quality herbal companies like MediHerb make similar formulas. MediHerb's is called Burdock Complex.

Traditional herbal/naturopathic treatment for cancer, regardless of where it is in the body, centers on the digestive system and liver, with additional support to the area/organ/tissue that the cancer is mainly affecting.

Best of luck and I would try anything as long as it's safe with the other treatments!

[Mastiff Mama]

Thanks Robyncz and DocAgocs. I believe my friend plans to talk with her physicians about this. It will be interesting to find out what their opinions are. Anything that may be beneficial at this point seems like it is worth a try! I will pass on the info you posted DogAgocs. I appreciate your replies!

[TreeHuggerGuru]

Hey everyone. I stumbled on this old thread while doing some of my own research on wobenzym and thought i would add a few thoughts in case anyone comes across this thread. Enzymes, which are the primary component of wobenzym are responsible for so much of what helps our bodies stay healthy. The developers of wobenzym actually designed in hopes that it would be a natural cure for cancer. It has not been shown so far to be an unequivocal cure for cancer, however there is some supportive research showing that the proteolytic enzymes it contains can effectively help fight some cancers.

so while it might not be a absolute cure, it definitely can't hurt as a complimentary supplement. since enzymes support the body and keep it healthy this can only help during the fight with cancer. hope this helps all.

[wallycat]

I hate people who take advantage of cancer patients.
Yes, we want a cure....if it existed, our doctors would be offering it to us.
Anecdotal evidence should NEVER be used as treatment...and yes, some alternative stuff CAN hurt you.

[TreeHuggerGuru]

Wobenzym actually has quite a bit of supportive research behind it but only for certain types of cancers. In fact a similar product to wobenzym is currently under consideration by the FDA for use as part of a cocktail of medications and treatment for cancer involving B cells in the blood called multiple myeloma.

you're right though. there are a lot of things out there that seek to take advantage of people and their illnesses. I can't blame you for being skeptical. However, there are a lot of products out there that do help and are recommended by everyday physicians and other doctors.

[vincenola]

I have been taking Wobenzym since Jan 2008. It helped me overcome sciatic and low back pain by reducing the inflamation caused by pinched nerves and bulging discs.
In the mean time I opted to have my prostate reduced so that I could stop taking Flomax & Avodart. They required a pre-physical in December 2008. The physical involved a chest x-ray. The x-ray picked a lung nodule that after further test, CAT & PET scans determined that is was highly likely to be cancer. Because I had no other symptoms it confused the doctors, but they all recommended that I have surgery. I had my surgery on Feb 5th, 2009 and the test came back positive for Ademocarcinoma. They think they removed all the cancer but to be sure I will undergo chemo therapy.
I think the Wobenzym was slowing the cancer growth, but will never know for sure. I feel lucky to have been diagnosed early enough to prevent further spread.

[rclady520]

My husband is a StageIV aggressive Head and Neck Cancer survivor who has been on Wobenzym for almost 7 years. He also has changed his diet to a lot of organic vegies and fruit and whole grain with very little organic chicken and very little organic ham. He eats no red meat.
Diet is so important for survival. He supplements his protein with whey or rice protein powders. He also uses a lot of high quality supplements and probiotics, and green tea.
we were advised by our oncologist to take flax oil and fishoil to keep the blood thin so the cancer cannot metastisis.
Another 2 doctors also recommended the wobenzym and the fish oil and flax oil. All of these are safe and have given my husband many additional years of a healthy life and he plans to be here til he dies of old age.;)