antineoplaston
Meaning of antineoplaston: A set of compounds promoted for decades as a cancer treatment, still without approval or an independent trial showing benefit.
Definition of antineoplaston
Antineoplaston is the name given to a group of peptides and amino acid derivatives first isolated from human blood and urine, and later made by chemical synthesis. They were proposed as part of a natural defense system that steers faulty cells back toward normal behavior. Preparations built on them have been given at one private clinic for many years without approval from any national regulator.
Where did the idea come from?
The concept grew from a proposal that the body carries a biochemical defense network, separate from the immune system, that corrects cells heading toward cancer. Peptides recovered from blood and urine were said to carry that signal, and a shortage of them was said to let tumors grow. No independent laboratory has confirmed that such a network exists. The claimed range of use was at one point widened to include AIDS, a claim that produced no published trial and was not pursued.
What is actually in them?
The preparations are mixtures rather than single drugs, and their named ingredients are ordinary human metabolites rather than novel molecules. The main constituent is phenylacetate, a small breakdown product of the amino acid phenylalanine, along with compounds formed when phenylacetate is joined to glutamine. Phenylacetate has a long established medical use that has nothing to do with tumors: it helps the body dispose of surplus nitrogen in inherited urea cycle disorders. That second identity is the detail most often lost in short summaries.
| Preparation | Named components |
|---|---|
| A10 | Phenylacetylglutamine with phenylacetylisoglutamine |
| AS2-1 | Phenylacetate with phenylacetylglutamine |
| Source | Originally human urine, later chemical synthesis |
How does the evidence stand?
Almost all reported results come from the single clinic that developed the compounds, mostly as case series and early phase studies. Groups that attempted to repeat the work did not reproduce the reported responses, and no completed randomized comparison against standard care has been published. Regulators have licensed the preparations for no disease at all, and access has run through investigational arrangements rather than ordinary prescription. Reported adverse effects include a high blood sodium level, swelling and confusion, which follow from the large sodium load the mixtures carry.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The record noted that the family had asked about antineoplaston therapy.
Good to know
No regulator has licensed antineoplastons for any condition, and nearly all published reports originate from the clinic that developed them, so the compounds remain unproven rather than newly promising.
Word origin
Where “antineoplaston” comes from
Coined from the Greek anti, meaning against, with neos, new, and plastos, formed, the same roots behind neoplasm, a new growth.