Low Dose Naltrexone
Low-dose Naltrexone or LDN is an outstanding immune therapy for cancer. It was found to block inflammation in animals in the 1970’s, by Zagon at Penn State. In the 1980’s neurologist Dr. Biharis stumbled upon its anti-cancer activity on Kaposi’s sarcoma in men with HIV/AIDS. Human studies began in 2007. Being a drug that has long been off-patent, it’s use is being driven not by pharmaceutical interests, but by clinicians who care for cancer patients.
The common use of Naltrexone in 50-200 mg daily doses is to get folks off of opiate drugs like heroin, for drug withdrawal reactions, drug overdoses, and alcohol detoxification. Low-dose LDN therapy uses less than 10% of the doses used for drug problems, and is this is part of why it is very safe. It is encapsulated by a compounding pharmacist in an inert filler such as Avicel microcrystalline hydroxycellulose. Other than some start-up issues, it is very comfortable for a vast majority of patients to take long-term.
LDN initially suppresses, then up-regulates production of beta-endorphins and met-5-enkephalins which in turn regulate immune response and cell growth. Endorphins increase natural killer NK cell number and activity, activate cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells, and may induce apoptosis via increased number and density of tumor cell endorphin receptors. It may alter cold agglutinins. LDN is a TLR4 antagonist, binding to NFκB and cytokine receptors, blocking IL-6, IL-12, TNFα release, for a potent anti-inflammatory effect. LDN also inhibits opioid growth factor.
LDN is particularly indicated in cancers of breast, ovary, uterus, kidney, bladder, prostate, lung, throat, liver, pancreas, colon, rectum, carcinoids (neuroendocrine), neuroblastoma, lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoma and melanoma. Good responses are seen in about 60% of cancer cases! Improvement may be seen by a month, and remission within 6 months. It is very useful in auto-immune diseases such as fibromyalgia, eczema, psoriasis, colitis (such as Crohn’s or UC), and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Notes:
• When on LDN you will not get pain relief from any opiate analgesic – codeine, morphine, dilaudid/hydromorphone, fentanyl, heroin, methadone, etc. If you need to take any of these opiates, such as for surgery, we will cut off the LDN for 3 days (minimum 24 hours) prior to the procedure.
• You can take palmitoylethanolamide PEA, cannabis, curcumin, boswellia, aspirin (ASA), ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) if you need a pain-reliever.
• There are no other drug interactions. It is fine in chemotherapy or any other oncology therapy. LDN can be remarkable for neuropathic pain and complex regional pain syndrome.