(Aug. 5) -- Albina Duggan was told she had three years to live after she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2004. Five years later, she has defied the odds and her tumors have shrunk with the help of a common drink: grapefruit juice.
Duggan, 41, turned to clinical drug trials after several unsuccessful attempts to treat the tumors that had spread from her liver to her spine and lymph nodes. University of Chicago cancer researchers started Duggan on a weekly dose of the drug rapamycin, accompanied by a daily glass of grapefruit juice, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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Did You Know ...
Grapefruit juice can help fight cancer? A University of Chicago clinical trial showed a chemical in grapefruit juice boosted the effectiveness of the cancer-fighting drug rapamycin. A daily glass of freshly frozen juice paired with a weekly dose of the drug helped stop tumor growth, according to the study leader who reported his preliminary results in the spring.
Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune/MCT
Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune/MCT
A chemical in grapefruit juice heightens the potency of many drugs. While this could lead to a dangerously high dosage if the juice is paired with some medicines, the increased effectiveness is beneficial when working with cancer-fighting drugs.
Not just any grapefruit juice will work. In fact, Duggan's tumors did not initially respond to her daily glass of grocery-store juice.
However, her doctors were soon advised that key chemicals in the juice break down when it is processed. Duggan then switched to freshly frozen grapefruit juice, which effectively raised the levels of rapamycin in her blood.
Of the 25 patients involved in the study, a third showed positive results, according to a preliminary report presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting this spring. However, study leader Ezra Cohen says no results were as dramatic as Duggan's.
Duggan told the Tribune the low weekly dose of rapamycin minimized her side effects and drug costs. Her life expectancy, once pegged at three years, is now indefinite. "There is nothing in my charts that will point to any number," the mother of four said. "I might outlive everybody."
