Research

In this paper we describe the treatment of a 71-year-old female registered nurse (JA) diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) in early October 2006. The patient was a heavy smoker and drank alcohol on weekends. She contracted hepatitis C following a finger sticks from a patient with the disease. Several years later she developed HCC. Her doctor at a large medical center, after viewing her CT scans, told her that with so many tumors in her liver, only a liver transplant would offer some hope of survival. She was informed that, given her diagnosis, that without liver transplant surgery any further treatment would, at best, be palliative. Mrs. JA refused liver transplant surgery. The patient arrived at the Integrative Medical Center of New Mexico (IMCNM) in late October 2006 she appeared to be in very poor health, weak, and fatigued. An integrative program developed by one of the authors using intravenous alpha-lipoic acid, oral low dose naltrexone and a healthy lifestyle program was initiated [1]. After only a few treatments of IV ALA her symptoms began to improve and her energy and outlook on life changed for the better. And she returned to work as a registered nurse. From October 2006 to January 2009 the patient’s hepatocellular carcinoma was followed closely using PET/CT imaging. Her January 2009 PET scan demonstrated no residual increased glucose uptake in her liver. The patient had disappearance of the signs and symptoms of hepatocellular carcinoma 27 months following diagnosis with an integrative program essentially free of side effects. This was one of the seven cases of serious cancer recoveries presented by one of the authors at The National Cancer Institute in 2012 [2].