What is the AMAS Test? Jonathan Cainer's Thought for the Day Tuesday March 23rd I have recently been talking about new discoveries which may, one day, be of great value to us all. In response to this, several readers have written to me about something called the 'The AMAS Test'. This, allegedly, is a simple way to check the blood for Cancer cells. Two highly qualified doctors in America developed it some while ago. They claim that it is very accurate. If so, it could play a crucial role in early diagnosis and in monitoring the efficiency of new treatments. Some 'experts' though, seem to be suspicious of it. Does anyone know more about this story? Once again, a big thank you to everyone that wrote in and here is just a small selection of replies that we received. Scroll down or click here for useful links. Hi Jonathan In answer to your call for data on AMAS in your horoscope column, below there's a news snippet about AMAS taken from the http://www.dodgenet.com/nocancer/ (People Against Cancer) site Hope it's useful Ta Stephen AMAS: A Revolutionary New Cancer Test From the Oncolab! In 1974, Dr Samuel Bogach, MD, PhD, working at his modest laboratory in Boston, made what may turn out to be one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century; a test for all cancers. Over twenty years later, most oncologists in the United States still don't know a thing about the test. The diagnostic test is called Anti-Malignin Antibody in Serum or AMAS. It is a simple blood test for cancer which is 95% accurate on the first test and 99% accurate on repeat analysis. "This is a monumental breakthrough," says Dr Jack Taylor of the Taylor Wellness Center in Arlington Heights, IL, who is now providing the simple screening test to patients at the Center. Taylor told Options, "The test not only has a phenomenal 95% accuracy rate, but it can identify cancer years before it is visible on film or scan." Predicting cancer years before it is visible on an x-ray or scan as a tumor, has long been the dream of revolutionary thinkers in cancer research. "The AMAS test has the potential of saving millions of human lives. This test is destined to change the face of cancer care as we know it," says People Against Cancer's executive director Frank D Wiewel. "We have looked at the data" says Wiewel, "and it looks like a breakthrough. It is simple, accurate and works on all types of cancer." "What is exciting is that we now have the ability to identify all types of cancer cells years before they are detectable by any other method. We may be able to prevent the cancer cells from colonizing and becoming life-threatening tumors. The possibilities are mind-boggling," says Wiewel. "We could provide patients a compelling reason to change their diet, their nutritional status and their lifestyle with an eye toward true cancer prevention," says Taylor. The potential for the test appears to be unlimited. The test may also be able to measure if we have any cancer remaining after surgery and measure if and when cancer has come back. The challenge will now be to gain acceptance for this important new idea. In a recent series of tests on breast cancer the AMAS was shown to be far superior to all other screening tests such as the PSA, CEA, CA-125, CA-15.3 and the CA-19.9, which are the tests currently used by most oncologists. Further tests have confirmed the effectiveness in all types of cancer tested. William G Friend MD, a cancer specialist and director of the Friend Foundation, a non-profit organization in Seattle says, "The AMAS test will forever change the practice of medicine in the civilized world. All humanity stands indebted to Drs Samuel and Elenor Bogach." Yet despite decades of research published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, thousands of positive double blind clinical experiments, and FDA marketing approval, the AMAS test remains largely unknown. "People with cancer and their friends and family members are leading the real revolution in the war on cancer, not their doctors," says Wiewel. "When the people find out about this test, they are going to demand it." Those interested in the AMAS can call the Taylor Wellness Center at 1-800-328-0642. To Jon From Phoenix AMAS: A Blood Test for Detecting Prostate Cancer By Jonathan McDermed, Pharm.D. A Malignin is a 10,000 Dalton (unit of atomic size) polypeptide that is found in most cancerous cells regardless of their cell type or location. The AMAS (Anti-Malignin Antibody in Serum) test measures the amount of an IgM antibody in the blood that the cancer patient's immune system produces against this "antigen" (an antigen is recognized by the immune system as "foreign" because it is not part of the body's normal biology). AMAS is activated early in the course of cancer when patients are asymptomatic and during their course of illness, but is not activated in patients with terminal cancer. Diagnosing Early Stage Cancer This anticancer antibody was discovered 21 years ago by the neurochemist, Samuel Bogoch, M.D., Ph.D., who evaluated this test on more than 6,000 patients. The AMAS test was subsequently patented by Oncolab, Inc. and approved for use by the FDA. According to Oncolab, AMAS levels higher than 135 micrograms per milliliter (mcg/mL) are detected in patients with cancer 95% to 99% of the time. On the other hand, the AMAS level in the blood is below 135 mcg/mL if there is no cancer, or if cancer has been treated and cured. The AMAS test has been used two ways: for cancer screening and to monitor patients for possible recurrence of cancer after treatment. Cancer is not detectable in its early stages by conventional methods, and early diagnosis offers the best chance for cure. The AMAS test has been effective in detecting early-stage cancer. Researchers at the San Francisco Medical Research Foundation, which has been monitoring development of this test for years, claim that "the AMAS may dramatically reduce the need for invasive biopsies of suspicious lesions found on CT scans, MRI's or needle biopsies. AMAS may also help patients avoid needless pain and suffering, and reduce the cost of medicine." In a 1990 abstract published in the Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research, AMAS was used to evaluate patients with suspicious mammo-grams. In addition to AMAS, patients had serum levels obtained for four other tumor markers - CEA, CA 15-3, CA 19-9 and CA 125. The average AMAS level in 154 control subjects (women who did not have cancer) was 77 mcg/mL. Three of these patients had positive AMAS levels > 135 mcg/mL. Subsequently, one was diagnosed as having in situ (microscopic malignant cells which is curative) cancer of the cervix, another had basal cell cancer(curable skin cancer), and the third had ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the colon), but did not have cancer. Twenty patients with biopsy-positive breast cancer had an average AMAS level of 220 mcg/ml prior to surgery, and many of the tumors removed were of millimeters in size. In this study, the sensitivity of the AMAS test for breast cancer was 95% compared to 0% for CEA, 11% for CA 15-3, 5% for CA 19-9 and 16% for CA 125 (ref. 1). Monitoring Post-Treatment For cancer patients who have completed treatment, the AMAS test has been promoted as a component of ongoing monitoring to be sure that cancer hasn't recurred. In the breast cancer abstract cited above, AMAS levels returned to normal in 18 of the 20 women following mastectomy. One of these patients developed lymphoma (a cancer which has spread to the lymph nodes), 3 months after her AMAS test abnormality was found (48 days after breast surgery). The remaining patient had a persistent elevation of AMAS for more than 6 months after mastectomy without full diagnostic work-ups revealing any evidence of cancer. In another study, AMAS was found to be elevated in 21 of 118 patients screened, all of whom had documented cancer. The AMAS test was negative in the remaining 97 patients, all of whom had benign diseases. In 56 patients who were undergoing treatment, changes in AMAS test results were consistent with the clinical course in 94.1% of patients (ref. 2). In other words, these 56 patients who had elevated AMAS levels before treatment showed a response to the treatment, and their AMAS levels returned to normal. Supporters for this test claim that AMAS will allow cancer specialists to more precisely recommend radiation and/or chemotherapy for only those patients with recurrent cancer who need the treatment. Dr. Bogoch and his fellow evaluators see the AMAS test as invaluable in the ongoing war against prostate and all other forms of cancer. The San Francisco group believes that the most likely use for the test in the future will be as an annual cancer screening tool for all adults, beginning as early as age 35, particularly if there is a history of cancer in the patient's family. Source: "An Accurate Blood Test For Cancer." The San Francisco Medical Research Foundation, Seattle, WA. Ref. l : Thornwaite J.T., Derhagopian R. and Riemer W.: Determination of antinmlignin in patients with suspicious mammograms. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research (31:A 1550, 1990.) Ref. 2: Abrams M.B., Bekarek K.T., Bogoch S., et al: Early detection and monitoring of cancer with the anti-malignin test. Cancer Detection and Prevention 18(1): pp. 65-78, 1994. How Should You Use This Information? The PSA blood test and digital rectal examination (DRE) remain the foundation for the current screening of patients for prostate cancer. Note: The preceding article was reviewed by Stephen B. Strum, M.D. His comments are as follows: New diagnostic tests that accurately detect cancer before it becomes clinically apparent are welcomed by all medical oncologists. When the AMAS test was being formally evaluated by the FDA in 1994 and 1995, I enthusiastically supported AMAS by offering blood samples from more than 40 patients in my medical practice for testing, the vast majority of whom had prostate cancer. Using medically-accepted terminology, we found the AMAS test to have a relatively high degree of specificity and positive predictive value (both 80%) in all of the patients that we evaluated. Dr. Avrum Bluming, another medical oncologist in Southern California, has done AMAS tests in over 60 patients in his practice. His data indicated a false positive rate of 5% and a false negative rate of approximately 7% for AMAS. Clearly, the AMAS test has demonstrated clinical usefulness for the diagnosis of cancer. Therefore, we ask how does AMAS improve upon or add to diagnostic or prognostic information for prostate cancer patients that can already be obtained by physicians using PSA and other diagnostic tools? For the moment, the answer is "we still don't know." However, we are currently working closely with Dr. Bogoch to answer these questions. To definitively diagnose prostate cancer, PSA and certain other tumor markers should always be used in conjunction with a DRE (digital rectal examination) and TRUSP (trans-rectal ultrasound of the prostate) with needle biopsies. A single blood test result (PSA, AMAS or any other) should never be used alone to establish or refute the possible diagnosis of cancer. Research continues to decipher the relationships between the immune system and the onset and growth of cancer cells. In the near future, more specific immunologic treatments will be discovered that will likely be more effective than AMAS to diagnose and treat human cancers. To Jon Although I was not familiar with this story at all until I saw it on your web page, I found the following on the net. Pretty interesting. http://www.ephca.com/amas.htm Since I never heard of this until today, I, of course, don't know anything about the "suspicious" nature of this test. I have heard worries here in the States that other types of testing that find a predisposition to certain diseases might be used against one in the job-hunting arena. If your testing shows that you are predisposed to cancer, heart disease, alcoholism or other expensive illnesses, suddenly a company may decide you aren't right for the job without telling you that you aren't right for the job because you might cost the company's insurance plan a lot of money in the future. Have you ever seen a movie called Gataca? This type of thing sounds very much like the situation in the movie. Unless you are a perfect specimen of a human, you have no right to live or work in certain areas. In the movie, even poor eyesight was unacceptable. Pretty frightening and I would think not entirely impossible given that medicine can now find out if you might have a disease but yet medicine has no cure for that disease. Thanks for listening. I guess that would be reading, not listening! Shaia To Jon From DarkTraveler You recently asked for information about AMAS Testing: An Accurate Blood Test For Cancer FYI FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION There is now a blood test that will accurately detect early cancer of all types. It has an accuracy of greater than 95%. If the test is repeated, the accuracy is greater than 99%. That is to say, that false positive and false negative rates are less than 1%. The test is called AMAS. Twenty-one years ago a neurochemist, Samuel Bogoch, M.D., Ph.D., discovered a test for cancer antigen, similar to today's PSA for prostate cancer and CEA for colorectal cancer. With hard work and good sound research, he found the first anticancer antibody in the bloodstream of patients with cancer. He named the new antigen malignin, and called new the new antibody Anti-Malignin Antibody. Hew founded a laboratory in Boston called Oncolab, Inc. the test has been finally patented, and the FDA has granted permission to market this test. We have been following the development of this test for the past five to eight years, however. It was not quite workable as a test that could be easily utilized by practicing physicians. At present, the test and the procedures in utilizing it have been refined and it is workable. A recent newsletter from the Friend Foundation For Medical Research, Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 1995, gives a descriptive summary of the AMAS test to date. Doctors will be using the AMAS test around the world. There are three indications and uses for this test. 1. A cancer screening test. The usual examination in a doctor's office today includes a history, a physical examination and selected laboratory tests aimed at detecting potential problems including cancer. With the use of the AMAS test, the doctor will be able to defer or eliminate chest x- rays, sigmoidoscopy, CT scans, possibly even mammograms and PAP tests, unless the AMAS is abnormal. All blood donors and transplant donors and recipients will be screened by AMAS to insure there is no chance of spreading undiagnosed viral-induced cancer. Life and disability insurance companies will surely want to know your AMAS status before underwriting a new policy or renewing an old one. This is exciting to us because we have been prevention-minded for our entire medical career. The problem with cancer is that, like other diseases, it is not detectable until it's advanced. The other exciting idea here is that many cancers will be able to be prevented because tainted blood transfusions or transplant organs will be able to be screened, preventing the transplantation of cancer into an already sick patient. We all realize it is better to find a small cancer early than big cancer later. The cancers that are detected at an earlier stage are ones that have the highest possibility of a permanent cure. 2. A cancer monitoring test. After any cancer has been treated the patient, as well as the doctor, wants to know if the cancer has been cured or if some malignancy may remain in the body. Breast cancer is a good example. Published data show that when surgery has been curative, the AMAS value returns to normal. If any cancer remains, AMAS will continue to be elevated. Cancer specialists will be able to precisely recommend radiation and chemotherapy only for those patients who need it. 3. In differential diagnosis. If there is a shadow on a chest x-ray, a spot in the liver CT scan, a suspicious area on a mammogram, or an enlarged lymph node on an MRI, generally a needle biopsy or an open surgical biopsy is necessary to tell whether or not the tissue is cancerous. If the AMAS is normal, the lesion in question is not a cancer. In the future, the AMAS test should dramatically reduce the number of invasive biopsies, needless pain and suffering, and reduce the cost of medicine. COSTS AND AVAILABILITY AMAS is a test which measures an antibody. It is a laboratory procedure called an immunoassay. PSA for prostate cancer and CEA for colorectal cancer are two common immunoassay that measure antigens. At the present time, AMAS is only available through Dr. Bogoch's Oncolab, Inc. in Boston. The requisition to order AMAS must contain specific medical information and must be sighed by both patient and physician. The test is presently done by hand at Oncolab and requires special handling including properly separating the serum from the blood, freezing and shipping overnight to Boston. Dr. Bogoch is currently attempting to place AMAS with a strong international company that will make the test affordable and available in an automated form worldwide. He hopes to accomplish this by the end of 1995. AMAS AND BREAST CANCER To date, more than 1,000 patients with breast cancer have been studied with AMAS. Most of the clinical research has focused on using AMAS to tell if the cancer has been cured. Results show that breast cancer can only be presumed cured if the AMAS returns to normal level after treatment. New data shows convincing evidence that breast cancer cannot be presumed to be in remission unless AMAS returns to normal. Traditionally, the usual follow- up treatment would include CT scans, MRI's, x-rays and hormonal blood tests, looking for signs of cancer after treatment. Used and performed properly, AMAS gives a much more accurate answer at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience. AMAS has found breast cancer as small as a pencil dot. This is a truly remarkable test. THE FUTURE FOR CANCER DETECTION AND TREATMENT Dr. William J. Friend, M.D., the Director of Medical Research for The Friend Foundation, states that Anti-Malignant Antibody in Serum (AMAS) is a naturally occurring antibody present in the serum of all people, even children. AMAS is our natural immune system against cancer. The test can be used to determine if any type of cancer exists anywhere in the body. It will tell if the new treatment against any cancer has been successful. The future application of AMAS in vaccines and booster shots is inevitable. Historians will probably view AMAS as the most important diagnostic test of the twentieth century, as it will forever change the practice of medicine in the civilized world. MEDICAL PROGRESS AT LAST As a new cancer-screening test, the AMAS will be invaluable. It's probable that all adults will be screened on an annual basis, perhaps beginning at about age 35. Some might be screened even earlier if there is cancer in the family history. Studies on more than 6,000 patients have shown a sensitivity and specificity of AMAS greater than 95% (99% if repeated). Physicians, especially those in Managed Care and HMO's, are not going to order the routine and conventional cancer screening tests, such as PSA, CEA, CA-125, x-rays, mammograms, fecal occult tests, PAP tests, colonoscopies, etc., unless AMAS is positive. IF the AMAS test is normal, there is a better than 99% chance that the doctor will not find cancer. VETERINARY MEDICINE Veterinarians will also be suing AMAS as it has been detected in goats, dogs, rabbits, and rats. As in humans, there appears to be a normal level of AMAS that is bumped up when cancer starts growing. HELPING THE PATHOLOGIST The pathologists batting average in diagnosing cancer can be greatly improved because AMAS is an antibody that can be stained with a variety of immunofluorescent dyes. The dyed AMAS readily adheres to cancer cells and under the microscope they stand out and are easily diagnosed. AMAS MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES An antibody is a specific molecule that attacks and neutralizes or kills a specific cell that contains an antigen that has invaded or infected the body. AMAS is a naturally occurring anti- cancer antibody in everyone's serum. today it is relatively easy to precisely duplicate (clone) an antibody. It is also fairly easy to attach a second molecule to the cloned antibody. If that second molecule is a chemotherapeutic agent, which could destroy a cancer cell, in addition to AMAS itself, the resultant structure is called a therapeutic monoclonal antibody. This procedure could result in an intravenous injection that would destroy any type of cancer anywhere in the body without affecting normal tissue or causing side-effects. AMAS BODY SCANNER AMAS is at its best when cancers are just getting started and are still small in size. In fact, one of the problems with AMAS is going to be that it detects cancer so early that your doctor may not be able to find it. AMAS can detect cancers up to 19 months before your doctor can find it. A unique way to solve this dilemma is to let AMAS detect its antigen. First, label AMAS with a medical radioactive isotope. Everyday, in your local hospital, doctors routinely label molecules in this way to provide scanning for liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, bones, etc. After the labeled AMAS is injected intravenously, it wanders around the blood stream and selectively adheres to cancer cells anywhere in the body. Then, the patient can be scanned with a gamma-detecting camera and the location of any "hot spots" are relatively easy to see. AMAS VACCINES AND BOOSTER SHOTS AMAS is the antibody against malignin. Malignin is the antigen, or the marker, that AMAS recognizes as cancer. Dr. Bogoch was the first person to identify malignin, and now produces it at his laboratory in Boston. Malignin can be used as a vaccine to stimulate the immune system to make the protective and cancer antibody. Dr. Bogoch has also purified the AMAS antibody. AMAS could be injected intravenously as a true immunologic booster shot. In the human body there is a constant war going on between cancer and AMAS. Isolated reports of spontaneous cancer cures are undoubtedly the result of natural occurring AMAS. THE CELL AND CANCER The cells with similar function grow side by side to form a common tissue, such as brain tissue or muscle tissue or bone tissue. As these normal cells proliferate, they begin to crowd and bump into each other; and a phenomenon that researchers call cell recognition occurs and a message is sent back to the individual cells in the tissue to stop proliferating. Cancer cells do not recognize this phenomenon, and they continue to grow and multiply and cause the tissue to expand into a larger mass called a tumor. The surface of cancer cells contains an outer coating of sugar molecules over an inner layer of protein molecules. Together they are called glycoproteins. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells keep crowding and bumping into each other and part of the layer of sugar molecules is ground off, exposing the inner protein layer, which is the antigen Dr. Bogoch has named malignin. Due to cell recognition, our immune system spots malignin, also. When it sees malignin, it starts turning out anti-malignin antibody, which is our body's natural defense against all cancers. In 1988, Dr. Bogoch purified AMAS and demonstrated that it would kill cancer cells in the test tube. Can you imagine the day when we might start treating cancer with booster shots of anti-malignin antibody? Dr. Bogoch's contribution to science and medicine will certainly put him in contention for the Nobel Prize. Most of the material that you have read comes from the newsletter of the Friend Foundation. This is an exciting breakthrough in cancer detection, and it is important that all of the general public be aware of this. Acres U.S.A. has made it possible for the reader of the column to be well-up on the information in advance of the general public. The test needs to be automated and widely distributed, and that is what is slowing down the information and dissemination of the AMAS test. It is, however, available and if you would request it from your doctor, it can be done for you. You might also request a copy of the newsletter from which this column came. The address is: The Friend Foundation, 1221 Madison, Suite 1220, Seattle, WA, 98104 Phone: (206) 622-4745, fax: (206) 623-0985. When the test becomes widely available, and this hinges on the general public having the information and knowledge and requesting the test from their physicians, a great improvement will be accomplished in our medical care. One could imagine a great amount of money saved from conventional tests no longer needed. It will be possible to reduce or eliminate the follow-up chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments so commonly prescribed today. There would also be a tremendous elimination of cancer phobia, the fear of getting cancer, so common in our middle-aged population. There would be a tremendous amount of money that would be available to ease life's other burdens. Greater than 99% of patients with cancer have AMAS levels above 135. AMAS levels below 135 are seen in normal individuals who do not have cancer. If in doubt, a repeat test is indicated. Normal levels are also seen in successfully treated cancer patients, in which there is no further evidence of disease. Dr. Bogoch is to be heartily congratulated for his 20 years of research which is about to bear fruit beneficial to all mankind. The Friend Foundation is a non-profit, tax-free public charity dedicated to medical research. They are to be congratulated for their support of Dr. Bogoch. For further information or additional copies of the brochure, please call or write them. Copyright � 1996. The Light Party. Dear Jon One of the reasons this test has not been accepted is the fear that once they identified people with this type of blood cell, health insurance companies would refuse to insure them because they become too high of a financial risk. Annette Hi Jonathan I enjoy your column. I have not heard about this specific cancer test, but I do have an experience to share that is relevant to how the medical establishment deals with cancer tests in general. I had breast cancer over three years ago. Soon after completing the treatment I heard that there was a new blood test to detect breast cancer. I was elated and went to my doctor at Kaiser (a major HMO). She refused to order the test, saying it was not considered to be reliable. Upon further questioning, it became clear that the real reason was that, if the test showed cancerous cells, Kaiser would be "on the hook" to treat it - and they may have a hard time even finding it's specific location in the body. They're much more comfortable dealing with a lump. I was very upset by this at the time, but have since decided to do all I can with herbs, meditation, and so forth to maintain a healthy body. I feel good and am optimistic about a healthy future for me, personally. But I still have lingering concerns about the politics of medicine. Regards Shirley Useful Links Hi Jon There's a website you can check for more info on this test: http://www.ephca.com/amas.htm Janet Elk Hi Jon Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the CA-125 Test from OVARIAN PLUS INTERNATIONAL Newsletter http://www.monitor.net/ovarian/ca125.html Allison To Jon Here are some articles on the AMAS test: http://www.ephca.com/cancer.htm#amas http://www.speakeasy.org/wfp/34/Holistic.html http://www.cooleyville.com/proshelp/pramas.htm Jan To Jon All the info you could want on this subject, I think. If you require more let me know. http://www.cancerfoundation.com/home.html from Marsha