Cancer Drug Getting New Attention

A controversial cancer treatment is now getting some new attention. The National Cancer Institute has agreed to review stories from patients who say they've been helped by 714-X, a drug that is not sold in the United States.

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Cheryl Cavallo is optimistic. At 39, she's been fighting breast cancer for four years and for a while it looked like she was losing the battle. "It metastasized to the tip of my spine and my liver," she said. Rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments could not halt her disease. Cavallo's condition only began to improve when she turned to alternative therapies and 714-X, an untested drug sold only in Canada. "I began seeing a nutritionist in Cohasset who put me on a diet where I learned about ESSIAC tea and that's when I met the Best family and started taking 714-X," Cavallo, who's from Pembroke, said. 714-X is illegal in the United States. It's described as a natural remedy made up of camphor, nitrogen and some trace elements. Cavallo said that her pain has subsided since she began the drug last November. It was 1995 when then 16-year-old Billy Best, the Norwell teen who ran away from home rather than take chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's Disease, appeared on "Good Morning America" to announce that his cancer was in remission. More than six years later, Best is fit and still cancer free. He said that he owes it all to 714-X. "I'm happy that the hospitals are willing to take another look at the treatment I used. They knew nothing about it when I first started using it. So now I feel hopeful that they'll be able to help more people," Best said. Last week, Boston's noted Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced that the National Cancer Institute had agreed to review the claims of cancer patients who've been treated with the experimental drug. "It's out there in the general public being prompted as a cure. People are asking about it so we thought it made sense to ask the National Cancer Institute to cast a wide net, gather as much information as possible and evaluate some of the claims about the compound," Steve Singer of Dana-Farber said. At the same time, Dana-Farber said that there is no scientific evidence that 714-X is an effective cancer fighter and they don't recommend it. But for cancer victims like Best and Cavallo, they think recognition for 714-X is long overdue. "I don't want skepticism to prevent them (National Cancer Institute) from listening to people who have survived on 714-X," Cavallo said. A few years ago, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute settled a lawsuit with the makers of 714-X after abruptly stopping studies of the drug.