Clinical trial · Interventional
Clinical Evaluation of a New Form of Cancer Therapy (Atavistic Chemotherapy) Based on the Principles of Atavistic Metamorphosis (2011)
Atavistic Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy in Advanced, Metastatic, and Otherwise Incurable and Lethal Cancers Under Conventional Treatments
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
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.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neoplasms | Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Bacterial Agents | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Anti-Fungal Agents | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Anti-Protozoal Agents | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (4)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Anti-bacterial agents
- description
- Combination of two selected anti-bacterial agents with documented anti-cancer properties
- interventionNames
- Drug: Anti-Bacterial Agents
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Anti-fungal agents
- description
- Combination of two selected anti-fungal agents with documented anti-cancer properties
- interventionNames
- Drug: Anti-Fungal Agents
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Anti-protozoal agents
- description
- Combination of two selected anti-protozoal agents with documented anti-cancer properties
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 1 Year
- Maximum age
- 75 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with malignant disease confirmed histologically that is considered untreatable, progressive and fatal within the next 16 months. * Patient with an expectation of life greater than 3 months. * Patients with malignant disease that may be evaluated or measured clinically either through radiographic studies, visually, histologically, in serum or blood tumor markers, or through any other method medical approved for that disease. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients over 75 years of age. * Patients who are pregnant. * Patients that have a known allergy to any of the drugs planned for use. * Patients with renal, hepatic, pulmonary, cardiovascular compromise, or other systemic or other clinical conditions such as AIDS, tuberculosis, etc., which, in the opinion of the Investigator, may pose a risk to the subject. * Malignancies of hemato-lymphatic origin (leukemias and lymphomas)
References
Publications (6)
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- BACKGROUNDArguello F, Baggs RB, Duerst RE, Johnstone L, McQueen K, Frantz CN. Pathogenesis of vertebral metastasis and epidural spinal cord compression. Cancer. 1990 Jan 1;65(1):98-106. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19900101)65:13.0.co;2-k. PMID 2293874
- BACKGROUNDArguello F, Furlanetto RW, Baggs RB, Graves BT, Harwell SE, Cohen HJ, Frantz CN. Incidence and distribution of experimental metastases in mutant mice with defective organ microenvironments (genotypes Sl/Sld and W/Wv). Cancer Res. 1992 Apr 15;52(8):2304-9. PMID 1559233
- BACKGROUNDArguello F, Baggs RB, Graves BT, Harwell SE, Cohen HJ, Frantz CN. Effect of IL-1 on experimental bone/bone-marrow metastases. Int J Cancer. 1992 Nov 11;52(5):802-7. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910520522. PMID 1428234
- BACKGROUNDArguello F, Sterry JA, Zhao YZ, Alexander MR, Shoemaker RH, Cohen HJ. Two serologic markers to monitor the engraftment, growth, and treatment response of human leukemias in severe combined immunodeficient mice. Blood. 1996 May 15;87(10):4325-32. PMID 8639792