Insulin Potentiation Therapy for Cancer

Insulin potentiation therapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses a combination of both insulin and chemotherapy to treat the disease. Often referred to as simply IPT, it is considered an "alternative" approach to care and is typically not the first line of defense against cancer. This is largely due to the lack of evidence of its actual efficacy and potential risks involved during the course of treatment.

IPT

• When insulin potentiation therapy is used in the treatment of cancer, you're given a dose of insulin along with a low dose of chemotherapy. The amount of insulin administered is based solely on your body weight after a period of fasting (anywhere between six and eight hours). Treatment is intravenous and starts with insulin. After the insulin has had a chance to take affect and your blood sugar has suffered a dip, you're given an intravenous chemotherapy drug.

Theory of IPT

• The insulin is thought to alter the way in which the abnormal cells within a malignant tumor affect the rest of your body, essentially controlling their division as well as hindering their invasion of healthy tissue and rate of metastasis. As insulin is administered, it is also believed that the "permeability" of the cancerous cells increases, and thereby boosts the penetration of chemotherapy drugs, making them far more effectual in low doses than without the use of insulin. Over time, this form of therapy is said to kill the cancerous cells, but studies are limited, putting into question its efficacy.

Time Frame

• For most people going through insulin potentiation therapy, you'll have at least two sessions a week over the course of 12 to 18 weeks. However, after you've completed the standard number of treatments, you'll need to go through a phase of maintenance, where you periodically take part in additional intravenous administration of both insulin and chemotherapy.

Complications

• While the actual efficacy of ITP is still highly debatable, there is the potential to suffer from complications of treatment. Besides not effectively treating the cancer, you may also experience a hypoglycemic reaction. This is largely due to the varying ways in which insulin affects a person's body, even of the same sex, height and weight. If your blood sugar were to dip to a dangerously low level, you can lose consciousness, suffer a seizure or even die.

Side Effects

• There is also the potential to experience dangerous side effects from the administration of insulin, especially when not required for another condition, like diabetes. If you're given a dose of insulin, you may begin to suffer from rapid or irregular heartbeats, a sudden drop in blood pressure (hypotension) and difficulty with respiration. It may also cause certain prescription medications to respond adversely, making them ineffectual in the treatment of other disorders you may be suffering from.