The role of your cancer health professional is to create an environment of openness and trust, and to help in making informed decisions about alternative/ complementary therapies. Collaboration will improve the safe integration of all therapies during your experience with cancer. The "Summary" and "Professional Evaluation/ Critique" sections of this Unconventional Therapies manual are cited directly from the medical literature, and are intended to help in the objective evaluation of alternative/complementary therapies.
Summary
"Its formulation and administration are based on unconventional views about the nature of cancer that have not been substantiated by mainstream researchers. Side effects appear to be minimal, but evidence of its effectiveness is limited." (Kaegi)
Description/ Source/ Components
"714-X is the name given to an alternative product developed by Gaston Naessens, a French microbiologist now residing in Quebec, Canada." (Cassileth)
714X contains "a mixture of camphor, ammonium chloride and nitrate, sodium chloride, ethanol, and water." (Health)
"Camphor is a natural product derived from the shrub Cinnamomum camphora." (Kaegi)
714X is injected daily (perinodular). A series of shots consists of twenty-one daily injections; three such series are the minimum required, but most patients should expect to undergo longer-term treatment." (Fink 1997)
714X must be "injected intralymphatically via a lymph node in the groin." (Davies)
This product may be requested by physicians on compassionate plea under the Emergency Drug Release Program. The authorization only provides legal access to the drug and does not ensure or imply approval of the quality, manufacturing process or clinical use. (Health) (714X)
"Outside Canada, 714-X is available in Mexico and Western Europe but not in the US, where it is currently under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration." (Kaegi)
History
Naessens claims to have developed in the 1940s "an extremely powerful light microscope (it uses ultraviolet and laser technology) that is capable of extraordinary rates of magnification-up to 30,000X-and can examine living tissue." (Davies)
"(The later development of the electron microscope, which allows even higher magnification [although not of fresh, unstained blood and tissues], displaced interest in the somatoscope and other similar microscopes that used dark-field microscopy.)" (Kaegi)
Gaston Naessens "was arrested in Quebec in 1989 and charged with four counts of illegal practice of medicine and one count of contributing to the death of a patient." (Roberts)
"Naessens had been convicted four times of practicing medicine without a license, twice in France, and twice in Canada." (Blackburn)
"The name `714-X' reflects Naessens' pride in his creation. The numbers `7' and `14' represent the seventh and fourteenth letters in the alphabet (Naessens' initials), and the `X', the 24th letter in the alphabet, represents the year of his birth (1924)." (Kaegi)
Proponent/ Advocate Claims
"Gaston Naessens hypothesizes that all living beings, animal and vegetable, possess life by virtue of microscopic dense particles that he calls 'somatids'. His unique approach to studying morphological correlates of health from blood samples relies on using his Somatoscope and Ultramicroscope to view the abnormal cycle of the somatids in the blood (orthodox medicine has no live blood test for cancer)... The centre [Cose Inc.] believes that cancer development is related to a lowering of inhibitors (e.g. chalones) transported in the blood." (Fink 1997)
"He [Naessens] believed somatids to be living organisms distinct from bacteria and viruses, and he described 2 distinct life cycles for these organisms: a 'microcycle' consisting of 3 forms, which he observed in healthy individuals, and a more complex 'macrocycle' consisting of 16 forms which he usually observed in individuals with degenerative diseases, including cancer. He reports that at the different stages of the cycle, the form of the somatids may resemble bacteria, yeasts or fungi. He claims to be able to diagnose and monitor disease processes by observing the number and forms of somatids in the blood." (Kaegi)
Naessens believed that "if the somatids are exposed to some sort of trauma (e.g. pollution, radiation), then they enter a wild uncontrolled growth cycle which leads to cancer." The 714X is supposed to return the somatids to a normal state. (714X)
"He used the somatoscope routinely to determine whether treatment with 714-X, a mixture of nitrogen and camphor (to deliver the nitrogen), was working for each particular patient. Naessens theorized that cancer cells are deficient in nitrogen, and that injecting 714-X into the lymph system would convert them to normal cells." (Cassileth)
"The goal is to fluidify the lymph, and to direct nitrogen to the cancerous cells in order to stop their toxic secretions, which block the organism's defense mechanism." (Fink 1997)
"Naessens selected camphor as the base because he believes it has special affinity for cancer cells. ... Naessens included ammonium salts because he believes they improve the circulation of lymph in cancer patients. He also believes that the ammonium salts activate certain kinins that inhibit abnormal cell growth and enhance the healthy functioning of the immune system." (Kaegi)
Proponents believe that "714X acts to strengthen, or unblock, the dysfunctional immune system." (Bird)
"Dr. Naessens discovered that tumor cells produce a substance, cocancerogenic K factor (CKF), which paralyzes the immune system. 714X seems to neutralize CKF, thereby enabling the immune system to more readily identify and destroy cancer cells." (Diamond)
"Recently, the distributors have advised that 714-X can sometimes be administered nasally using a nebulizer containing a solution of 0.6 mL of 714-X in 1.9 mL of saline. The nasal route has been recommended for patients with lung or oral cancers." (Kaegi)
"Dr. Atkins cautions that patients undergoing the 714X treatment should not take therapeutic doses of vitamin E or vitamin B12 at the same time, as the two vitamin supplements may interfere with its therapeutic action." (Diamond)
Professional Evaluation/ Critique
"There is no scientific evidence in support of the efficacy of this method." (Cassileth)
"Naessens's theories about the underlying causes and mechanisms of cancer are clearly not consistent with current scientific opinion. Although a small number of researchers have long believed that certain bacteria, viruses and other organisms such as cell-wall deficient or pleomorphic bacteria play a much more important role in the development of cancer, this view is not generally accepted by mainstream scientists." (Kaegi)
"There have been few published animal studies of the safety and effectiveness of 714-X, and those that have been conducted have shown no beneficial effect." (Kaegi)
"It is safe to say that the 'microscope invention' is a hodge-podge of different physics phenomena, which either are non-existent and certainly cannot be demonstrated to exist in any laboratory of a reputable university or any other similar institution (e.g. two wavelengths combining to produce a third wavelength), or a known physics phenomena which do exist (e.g. Zeeman effect) but do not act at all as described by this man. If the rest of his "discoveries" in any way resemble the microscope 'discovery', then I must conclude that his whole theory of somatids and immune system booster compound 714-X and their role in cancer diagnosis and treatment has no value." (Palcic)
"A few animal studies using extracts of the shrub C. camphora, which is the natural source of camphor, have demonstrated some evidence of biological activity of potential value in the treatment of cancer... However, research into the effects of camphor remains at an early stage." (Kaegi)
Toxicity/ Risks
714X has no (reported) side effects but should be used only with the supervision of a physician. (Fink 1988)
The administration is complex. 714X must be given intra-lymphatically into a lymph node in the groin every day for 21 days. The container vial is expected to be used for several treatments and no information on preservatives or stability of 714X given. Vials must be stored in the refrigerator. (Nakashima)
"714X has no harmful side effects, other than burning sensations at or around the site of injection." (Diamond)
"Taken internally, camphor may have serious toxic effects." (Kaegi)
Costs
A series of injections cost approximately $350 Cdn. (Ontario, 1994)
It costs $320 U.S. for one series of shots consisting of 21 daily injections. Included with the medicine are a protocol, injection instructions, and a videocassette on the treatment. (Fink 1997)
In Canada, 714X is reported to cost $69.55 for 2 vials of 5 mL in 1993. (Nakashima, 1996)
References
Bird C. Gaston Naessens vs. scientific medicine. Townsend Letter for Doctors 1991 May;94:313-320.
Blackburn L. Methods detect cancer, Branigan insists. The Whitehorse Star. (BCCA Cancer Information Centre search file 2400)
Cassileth BR. Alternative medicine handbook: the complete reference guide to alternative and complementary therapies. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 1998:165-6.
Davies R. The story of Gaston Naessens. Shared Vision 1991 June:16-17,39.
Diamond WJ, et al. An alternative medicine definitive guide to cancer. Tiburon: Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., 1997:32,871.
Fink JM. Third Opinion: an international directory to alternative therapy centers for the treatment and prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases. 2nd ed. Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1988:47.
Fink JM. Third opinion: an international directory to alternative therapy centers for the treatment and prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases. 3rd ed. Garden City Park, New York: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1997:67.
Health Protection Branch. 714-X: an unproven product. Issues (Canada Health Protection Branch) 1990 Jan 24.
Kaegi E, on behalf of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative. Unconventional therapies to cancer: 6. 714-X. Canadian Medical Association 1998;158:1621-1624.
Nakashima L. BC Cancer Agency verbal communication 1996.
Ontario Breast Cancer Information Exchange Project. Guide to unconventional cancer therapies. 1st ed. Toronto: Ontario Breast Cancer Information Exchange Project, 1994:250-252.
Palcic B. Naessens' somatoscope. BC Cancer Agency Vancouver Cancer Centre Cancer Information Centre. (Search file 2400)
Roberts PW. Blood Feud. Saturday Night 1992 Dec:52-57,96-105.
714X. BC Cancer Agency Cancer Information Centre. (BCCA Cancer Information Centre search file 2400)
Revised February 2000