Proteolytic Enzyme Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment: A Review
1Leonard, A.F. and 2Milala, M.A.
1&2Department of Biochemistry
University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
E-mail: mohammedmilala@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The cancer of the pancreas has a poor diagnosis due to the location of the pancreas. It has a high mortality rate of about ninety five percent, with limited survival rate. Patients diagnosed of pancreatic cancer barely have five years to live. Pancreatic cancer cells, cancer cells in general, posses a tough fibrin coat which protects them from the body’s own immune system and various types of chemotherapy have been unable to overcome this barrier. This is because the fibrin coat of cancer cells, resist fibrinolytic degradation by the fibrinolytic enzymes due to high cysteine residues in the fibrin protein. The use of proteolytic enzymes in pancreatic cancer treatment is aimed at degrading this fibrin coat, hence exposing the cancer cells to the body’s own immune system. This therapy is also accompanied with some components such as diet, and detoxification procedure known as the coffee enema. Studies on cancer cells have shown that the issue of the body’s autonomic system has to be addressed using diet. To avoid future diseases as a result of tumor degradation, the coffee enema is carried out so as to efficiently eliminate toxins through the liver.