Benzaldehyde is a chemical found in nature in many foods. It helps give coffee
and cocoa their characteristically pleasant aromas, and is also widely used
in the chemical industry.
Less known is the fact that benzaldehyde has shown significant cancer-fighting
abilities. In the 1970s, Japanese scientists used a distillate of ordinary
figs to successfully treat cancer in mice. They eventually found that the
active ingredient in this distillate was ordinary benzaldehyde, present in
mere one-part-per-million concentrations.
Building on this finding, in 1985, Dr. M. Kochi and colleagues reported in
the USNational Cancer Institute's own Cancer Treatment Reports (69:533-537)
that a `gluconated' form of benzaldehyde (called BG) caused an "overall objective
response rate [of] 55 percent. Seven patients achieved complete response,
29 achieved partial response, 24 remained stable, and 5 showed progressive
disease."
In 1990, Dr. Tatsumura and colleagues at Toyama University reported similar
results (41.7 percent responses). In all cases, the treatment was free of
toxicity. It is thus documented, safe, inexpensive—and generally unavailable
in America.
How is it possible that such a promising anti-cancer agent is unused here?
Why hasn't the NCIpublicized these results as they have, say, the interleukin-2
or taxol trials?
One reason may be the lack of incentive for pharmaceutical companies to become
involved in research on natural food constituents. It current costs over
$230 million to shepherd a new drug through the FDA's approval maze. This
compels pharmaceutical companies to seek out only expensive, patentable drugs,
to the detriment of non-patented agents like benzaldehyde.
Benzaldehyde is remarkably cheap—about 30¢ an ounce at chemical
supply houses. (Such companies do sell it, but may require a pledge that
it is not to be used for medicine—only for laboratory research.) Since
the average person needs less than a gram per day [see below], the cost per
year, astonishingly, would be about $2.00, or less than a penny a day.
Another factor is benzaldehyde's close link to amygdalin (a.k.a. laetrile),
the bête noire of the cancer establishment. Amygdalin, found in apricot
kernels, etc. breaks down into benzaldehyde, glucose, and hydrogen cyanide
in the body. Gluconated benzaldehyde (BG) is essentially laetrile without
the hydrogen cyanide....
Readers seeking treatment for cancer should seek out competent medical help,
including doctors open to alternative treatments. Scientific references
on benzaldehyde research, as well as other treatment options, are to be
found in Ralph W. Moss's book, Cancer Therapy, published by Equinox Press.
