British Journal of Cancer
4 August 2003, Volume 89, Number 3, Pages 465-469

A medical nutriment has supportive value in the treatment of
colorectal cancer

F Jakab1, Y Shoenfeld2, Balogh3, M Nichelatti4, A Hoffmann5, Zs
Kahán6, K Lapis7, Mayer8, P Sápy9, F Szentpétery1, A
Telekes5, L
Thurzó6, A Vágvölgyi9 and M Hidvégi10


MSC (Avemar) is a medical nutriment of which preclinical and
observational clinical studies suggested an antimetastatic activity
with no toxicity. This open-label cohort trial has compared
anticancer treatments plus MSC (9 g once daily) vs anticancer
treatments alone in colorectal patients, enrolled from three
oncosurgical centres; cohort allocation was on the basis of patients'
choice. Sixty-six colorectal cancer patients received MSC supplement
for more than 6 months and 104 patients served as controls
(anticancer therapies alone): no statistical difference was noted in
the time from diagnosis to the last visit between the two groups. End-
point analysis revealed that progression-related events were
significantly less frequent in the MSC group (new recurrences: 3.0 vs
17.3%, P<0.01; new metastases: 7.6 vs 23.1%, P<0.01; deaths: 12.1 vs
31.7%, P<0.01). Survival analysis showed significant improvements in
the MSC group regarding progression-free (P=0.0184) and overall
survivals (P=0.0278) probabilities. Survival predictors in Cox's
proportional hazards were UICC stage and MSC treatment. Continuous
supplementation of anticancer therapies with MSC for more than 6
months is beneficial to patients with colorectal cancer in terms of
overall and progression-free survival.

British Journal of Cancer (2003) 89, 465-469.
doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6601153