The Gonzalez regimen combines prescribed diets, nutritional supplements, coffee enemas, and pancreatic enzymes in a cancer management program. The regimen is intended to detoxify the body, correct nervous system imbalances that might lead to impaired general health, and support natural immune processes. The pancreatic enzymes are thought to be the specific anticancer component of the Gonzalez program.[1-4]

Two major concepts underlie use of the Gonzalez regimen in cancer treatment. The first concept is that the pancreas, like the liver, is an organ that performs a detoxification function and that pancreatic enzymes help the body eliminate toxins and help normal cells repair damaged cells.[2] The second concept is that cancer and most other human illness are related to physiological imbalances created by environmental toxins either consumed in food or contacted in the environment.[2,4]

Proponents of the Gonzalez regimen believe that toxins from sources such as processed foods and environmental pollution are responsible for human cancers. These toxins are thought to accumulate in tissues and over time create imbalances in the autonomic nervous system, diminish the normal immune response, and give rise to cellular damage that can lead to cancer.[2,4] If these toxins could be neutralized and eliminated from the body, proponents believe, both early and established cancers would be halted, and general health would be restored.[2,4]

According to the developer of the Gonzalez regimen, the diets used in this regimen are chosen for each patient according to individual metabolic profiles established at the time of initial evaluation through various tests, including hair analysis. There are ten basic diets and 90 variations.[2] The diets emphasize organic foods. Each diet carries a particular focus and can range from strictly vegetarian diets to diets high in meat and fat. Variations in the diets correlate with the theory that imbalances in the autonomic nervous system are exacerbated by a diet that is inappropriate for the patient’s metabolic type.[2,4]

Nutritional supplements employed in the Gonzalez regimen include vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, and extracts of animal organs (e.g., thymus and liver extracts from sheep or cows). As with the dietary protocols, the nutritional supplements are intended to correct autonomic nervous system imbalances.[2-4]

The major feature of the Gonzalez regimen is freeze-dried porcine pancreatic enzyme (PPE) administered in capsule form as part of the nutritional supplementation aspect of the program. Obtained from pigs, PPE is considered to be the primary cancer-fighting component in the regimen and to contribute to the overall detoxification process.[2]

Proponents of the regimen believe that the pancreatic enzymes are delivered to the bloodstream and help the body eliminate and destroy abnormal cells, waste material, and abnormal proteins that are toxic to the body. As the body detoxifies, the cancerous tumors tend to shrink.[2]

Coffee enemas are also included as part of the detoxification process. The enemas are administered twice daily.[4] The use of coffee enemas is based on a belief that coffee introduced into the lower intestinal tract will improve liver function and stimulate emptying of the gallbladder, thereby enhancing the elimination of toxins and waste products from the body.[2-4]

The Gonzalez regimen is available only to private patients of its New York-based practitioner [3] and to those participating in a clinical trial (CPMA-IRB-8544) sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Cancer Institute.

Pancreatic enzymes are sold in the United States as either prescription drugs indicated for pancreatic insufficiency [5] or over-the-counter (OTC) dietary supplements. As of 2004, those sold as prescription drugs must have a New Drug Approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be marketed legally in the United States. Pancreatic enzymes sold as OTC dietary supplements are regulated as foods, not drugs, and the FDA has no jurisdiction over the regulation of foods. Dietary supplements in the United States are therefore sold without any regulation by the FDA, as long as they do not claim to treat or prevent a specific disease or condition. According to the developer of the Gonzalez regimen, OTC preparations or other commercially available pancreatic enzymes are not effective against cancer.[4]

The PPE preparation used in the Gonzalez regimen is manufactured in New Zealand for use in the program.[3]

For the FDA, PPE falls under the category of a new prescription drug that is under investigation. To conduct clinical drug research in the United States, researchers must file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA. To date, only one group of investigators is known to have IND approval to study this pancreatic enzyme preparation as a treatment for cancer. The IND process is confidential, and the existence of an IND can be disclosed only by the applicant(s).

References

1. Gonzalez NJ, Isaacs LL: Evaluation of pancreatic proteolytic enzyme treatment of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, with nutrition and detoxification support. Nutr Cancer 33 (2): 117-24, 1999.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
2. Gonzalez N: Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez on nutritional cancer therapy: a Moneychanger interview. The Moneychanger July 1995. Also available online. Last accessed February 4, 2008. 
   
   
3. Gonzalez N, Kushi L: The dietary treatment of cancer (part II). In: Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Complementary and Alternative Therapies - A Conference for Health professionals, June 12-14, 1998. Breakout Session 404. Available online. Last accessed May 2, 2006. 
   
   
4. Gonzalez NJ: Pancreatic cancer, proteolytic enzyme therapy and detoxification [excerpts]. Clinical Pearls News November 1999. Also available online. Last accessed February 4, 2008. 
   
   
5. Physician's Desk Reference 2005. 59th ed. Montvale, NJ: Thomson PDR, 2005. 
   
   

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