Skip to main content

Together we are beating cancer

Donate now

Cancer News

The latest news, analysis and opinion from Cancer Research UK

  • Science & Technology

Claims that ‘putting people in to hibernation’ will help cure cancers aren’t backed up by evidence

by Justine Alford | Analysis

20 February 2017

4 comments 4 comments

facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon
Could putting patients in hibernation really help treat cancer?

If you’ve been browsing the news today chances are that researchers speculating about a surprise potential cure for cancer will have caught your attention.

This triggered some excitable headlines. “Put patients in hibernation to destroy cancer”, says the Daily Mail. “Doctors hope cancer could be cured in just ten years by putting patients into ‘hibernation’ for a week”, reports The Sun.

So what’s the scientific basis of these claims? Could we really make people ‘hibernate’ as a way to treat or even cure cancer? The short answer is no, not yet.

Here’s the science behind these headlines and what the future may hold for research into this quirky idea.

Where did the story come from?

This story is based on a new scientific publication in the journal Life Sciences in Space Research, which focuses on how astronauts might one day be put into ‘hibernation’ as part of space travel.

And Professor Marco Durante, from the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Italy, presented the paper’s conclusions at the 2017 AAAS meeting in Boston in the US.

But there’s a catch.

The paper isn’t actually a collection of new research findings. Rather, this is a summary of work carried out in this field so far, which has led to scientists speculating on the potential implications of the work for cancer patients.

What’s the idea?

When an animal hibernates, normally to help them cope with a cold winter and lack of food, processes in the body slow down to save energy. These processes that a cell uses to make energy from food – called metabolism – virtually grind to a halt so that the animal doesn’t use up its precious resources. Based on this, the proposed idea that has hit the headlines is that because cancer cells grow rapidly, putting cancer patients into ‘hibernation’ could potentially slow down the growth of their tumour.

On top of this, there is some evidence that hibernation helps cells in animals become more resistant to stress, including radiation. That’s why the Italian team thinks that putting humans into hibernation could be useful for future trips deep into space, as it could help astronauts stave off the effects of cosmic radiation.

This also forms the loose basis for why the scientists think that hibernation could be helpful for cancer patients.

Many people have radiotherapy as a treatment for their cancer, which also inadvertently damages healthy tissue, causing side effects. This limits the amount of radiation that can be used for treatment. So the Italian team speculates that some of this accidental damage could be avoided if humans could be made to ‘hibernate’. They say that because healthy cells might be made more resistant to the effects of radiation during hibernation, larger doses of radiotherapy could possibly be used that might be more effective at killing the cancer cells.

But this is pure speculation.

Does the science back it up?

This idea actually goes all the way back to at least the 1950s, when scientists showed that hibernation could slow the growth of human tumours in hamsters. And a number of studies in animals, mostly squirrels, have suggested that hibernation might help them stave off the effects of radiation.

But at the moment it’s not clear precisely why this is. It could be that cells in hibernating animals are better at fixing the damage that radiation causes to their DNA. Or perhaps it’s to do with a reduced availability of oxygen. Blood flow slows down during hibernation, restricting the amount of oxygen that tissues get. And oxygen is needed for radiotherapy to kill cells, creating a reaction that inflicts fatal damage on the cell’s DNA. So it’s clear more research is needed to unpick these reason behind these observations.

Are the claims evidence-based?

There seems to be some science to support the idea that tumours may grow more slowly during hibernation in animals. And that cells might be more resistant to radiation in a hibernating animal.

But the claims that hit the headlines sadly go further than this.

The word ‘cure’ shouldn’t be thrown around lightly in relation to cancer, as appears to be the case based on this excerpt from the scientific paper.

excerpt

But this statement makes it clear that the potential this approach may hold is purely speculative.

At the moment there is no evidence to back up the claim that hibernation could help cure cancer. In fact there isn’t any evidence to show that people can be made to ‘hibernate’.

And because of this, it’s far too early to say whether such an approach could help people with cancer. And since animals and humans are very different, we just don’t know yet whether the findings from animals can be turned in to a possible treatment for cancer.

How close are we to hibernating people?

Another bold claim made by the researchers is that, while it can’t yet be done, hibernation in people could be achieved within 10 years. This was also misinterpreted as a ‘cure’ for cancer being a decade away, which isn’t what the researchers were claiming.

There isn’t any evidence to support that statement. And talk of a single cure for cancer is misleading in itself, as there are hundreds of types of cancer, each with their own unique challenges when it comes to research and treatment.

Humans don’t naturally hibernate, and so far the only non-hibernating animal that researchers have successfully made to hibernate is the rat. They did this by using drugs to switch off a particular set of signals in the brain. Humans are much larger and more complex than rats, so it’s unknown if that technique would work in people, or more importantly whether it would be safe.

So what’s the take home message?

The fact that an idea from space science could potentially lead to new ways to treat cancer is exciting. And at the very least, this paper backs up why research that spans different scientific disciplines is so important for progress and new ideas. But it’s misleading to suggest that hibernation could ‘cure cancer in 10 years’ – there just isn’t any evidence right now that such a feat is possible.

As our chief clinician, Professor Peter Johnson, said, it’s not known whether or not such a technique could “help or hinder” treatments, something that requires further research.

So if scientists can find a way to make people ‘hibernate’, this might be an idea worth pursuing.

But not before.

Justine


    Comments

  • Anita Garry
    1 April 2017

    Perhatian: Ariyanto Laloan

    Damai dan berkah Allah bersama Anda!

    Kami punya email Anda dan rincian informasi pribadi Anda dan itu
    baik dipahami dan dicatat. Hal ini untuk menyatakan bahwa Dr. Williams
    Michael, dokter wakil dari “Rumah Sakit Ofure Clinic” di sini oleh
    memberikan pasien kepercayaan penuh dan kepercayaan pada kami karena kami
    di sini untuk memastikan bahwa kepuasan Anda adalah kami
    prioritas. Kesabaran adalah untuk yakinlah dan dijamin bahwa
    dia / dia tidak ada takut off selama proses ini, karena semua
    dokumentasi yang diperlukan sesuai dengan kebijakan transplantasi
    dari bertindak 21 Keputusan 2005 Konstitusi.

    Anda untuk mempelajari syarat dan ketentuan di bawah ini benar sebelum kita bisa
    lebih jauh ke depan baik-baik saja.

    SYARAT DAN KETENTUAN YANG TERJADI:
    1: Pasien adalah untuk memastikan bahwa ia / dia memenuhi syarat untuk menjual / nya
    Ginjal untuk menghindari segala bentuk akuisisi selama operasi.
    2: Pasien harus berada di atas usia 18 tahun dan di bawah akan
    menjadi batasan dari tawaran tersebut.
    3: Pasien harus menjadi warga negara hukum / negaranya.
    4: Pasien adalah untuk memastikan bahwa ia / dia tidak memiliki bentuk
    Kebiasaan kasar merokok.
    5: Pasien harus menjaga syarat dan ketentuan untuk memastikan bahwa kami
    transaksi dilakukan dengan cepat.
    6: Semua biaya perjalanan akan dibayar dan dibuat oleh Rumah Sakit.
    7: kegagalan untuk menyelesaikan transaksi akan mengarah pada pengadilan.
    8: Untuk semua pasien: Pasien harus sepatutnya mendaftar dengan papan
    federasi ginjal sebelum komitmen lebih lanjut untuk
    Operasi dapat mulai Yang akan biaya hanya ($ 150 dolar) atau jumlah
    yang bisa dapat hingga $ 150 dolar ketika dikonversi jika Anda tidak dapat membayar
    dalam dolar dari negara Anda
    9: Pasien akan memastikan bahwa ia / dia memiliki keluarga terdekat.
    10: Transfer uang pasien untuk / banknya: Setengah dari uang akan
    dibayarkan pertama yang pasien sebelum operasi pada dirinya / dia akan
    dimulai setelah yang sisanya akan dibayar setelah selesainya
    operasi. Operasi akan dilakukan di India, tapi ini adalah opsional untuk
    donor yang tidak ingin melakukan perjalanan tapi ingin operasi dilakukan dalam mereka
    negara.

    Ofure Rumah Sakit Klinik akan mengatur di sini semua sumbangan
    dokumen dan visa dan tiket perjalanan Anda. Sepertiga [1/3]
    dipindahtangankan ke account Anda oleh bank besar kami di sini.

    CATATAN: Transfer uang pasien ke rekening bank / nya: Setengah dari
    uang akan dibayarkan pertama yang donor sebelum operasi pada dirinya / dia
    akan dimulai setelah sisanya akan dibayar setelah
    selesai operasi. $ 200.000 USD akan menjadi setengah pertama
    angsuran, dan itu membutuhkan waktu kurang dari 5 jam untuk uang untuk mencerminkan di
    rekening bank Anda.

    Rincian Bank Diperlukan:
    1. Nama Pemegang Rekening: …………………………………….
    2. Nama Bank: ……………………………………… …….
    3. Nomor Rekening: ……………………………………… ..
    4. Swift Code: ……………………………………… ……
    5. Lokasi Bank: ……………………………………… …

    Dokumen yang diperlukan untuk pendaftaran:
     1 – Sebuah salinan laporan darah Anda
     2 – kartu identitas nasional

     Sebuah DONOR POTENSI HARUS
     1) Jadilah di baik kesehatan secara keseluruhan dan kondisi fisik
     2) Jadilah lebih tua dari 18 tahun dan lebih muda dari 60 tahun
     3) Memiliki rekening bank yang aktif.

     Sebuah DONOR POTENSIAL HARUS BEBAS DARI:
     1) alkoholisme atau penggunaan alkohol sering
     2) Penggunaan obat aktif
     3) Donor harus bersedia untuk melakukan proses pendaftaran donor sehingga
     untuk menyelesaikan operasi ginjal Dan perhatikan bahwa Anda harus
    mengirimkan salinan scan kartu identitas hukum sehingga kita tahu
    dan mengidentifikasi siapa kita berhadapan dengan dan Anda diminta kembali ke
    kita dengan fotokopi Kartu Identitas Anda.

    Beri kami respon yang cepat sehingga kita dapat menetapkan pengacara kami untuk memulai
    persiapan dokumen perjalanan Anda.

    Kami menunggu respons mendesak Anda

    Terima kasih untuk ketulusan Anda.

    Salam..
    Dr Williams Micheal
    konsultan Nefrologi
    OCH

  • Anon
    27 February 2017

    Apologies for spelling errors in last post: big fingers/phone keyboar. Also, last word of last point should read radio, not chemo.

  • Anon
    27 February 2017

    Fact:
    – no biomimetic drug has ever induced hibernation, which is defined as greater than 24 hrs torpor
    – it is not sufficient to just measure a reduced temperature to label a phenomenon as torpor, one must measure the oxygen consumption rate. Actually the latter is sufficient. If both are measured, then the fall in metabolic rate must precede any fall in temperature. Likewise with arousal. Any other sequence, and it’s not torpor, it’s something else.
    – Hibernation places not only normal cells in stasis but so too cancerous cells, meaning they too would become radioresistant. Even then, radioresistance only occurs if the oxygen tension falls, which only happens if there is no breathing and the glottis is closed, which occurs in hibernators intermittently. Said another way, you have to zap them when pO2 is low, ideally at its lowest. The reason is complicated. But then again, why would you if cancerous cells also go dormant at low pO2.
    – A human-sized hibernator, an adult, will die at 15 °C, because of size-related thermophysical factors. A human might reach the mid-20s in hibernation but not much lower. Think: bear-size, but not bear-shaped. If body temperatures falls lower a hibernator will arouse, or if temperature falls insidiously slowly it will die.
    – Hibernators can to some extent protect themselves against soft or photonic ionizing radiation like x- and gamma-rays but basically not against hard, particle radiation, because ‘in-track’ oxygen is produced from the radiolysis of water, which spuriously rises the local pO2. Interestingly, it might be a way to supply radioresustant but ischemic cells with O2 … granted, it’s a stretch.
    – To effectively target cancer in hibernation with radiation is if canceroys cells are less resistant to it than normal cells. One way to do that is to first target cancerous cells with an agent that would exclusively prevent them from going into hibernation, like a drug. In fact, such an experiment in hiberbators was successfully undertaken but without the chemo
    – The only possible other way for hibernation to perhaps cure cancer is through the autophagy or self-consumption of hibernation. Hibernation feeds off itself, and recycles dead or dying cell components. Normal cells may possibly also out-starve cancerous cells or better tolerate the harsh, acidic milieu of hibernation. This occurs with with other pathogens, like parasites.

  • Avelino Carvalho
    24 February 2017

    Dear Sir,
    Avoiding constipation could help prevent cancer.
    I had constipation problems, but I was able to overcome it by certain exercises which I would like to share with you.
    When I was working on offshore the beds and bed mattresses provided to us was very ordinary. The reason for Constipation could be because of bed mattresses, that would form curves and not flat enough, during our sleep at night. When I woke up in the mornings I could not walk straight. Then after I woke up I again used to sleep on the flat floor for 10 minutes or so and I used to not get constipated and walk normally. Did a small study over this problem.
    Procedure:
    When a person gets up from his bed in the morning ,AGAIN IMMEDIATELY HE MUST SLEEP / LYE DOWN ON A FLAT SURFACE ( floor ), perfectly level ,with hands/shoulders touching the floor and hands spread, without any pillow. Then both the knees /legs touching each other, bring up ( not lift up ) with feet touching the floor and move the legs left and right slightly. Also tap the feet on the floor, this creates a movement inside the stomach.

    Then, walk slowly and casually ( not holding body and legs tight ) on a straight line say 5 to 10 meters long , up and down, this surface should also be level, when the person walks he must move his shoulders as if running, this moves the stomach slightly left and right but swiftly.
    Then rotate the shoulder/hand first the right then the left.
    Both the shoulders should not be rotated simultaneously.
    Regards
    Avelino

Highlighted content

Related topics

    Comments

  • Anita Garry
    1 April 2017

    Perhatian: Ariyanto Laloan

    Damai dan berkah Allah bersama Anda!

    Kami punya email Anda dan rincian informasi pribadi Anda dan itu
    baik dipahami dan dicatat. Hal ini untuk menyatakan bahwa Dr. Williams
    Michael, dokter wakil dari “Rumah Sakit Ofure Clinic” di sini oleh
    memberikan pasien kepercayaan penuh dan kepercayaan pada kami karena kami
    di sini untuk memastikan bahwa kepuasan Anda adalah kami
    prioritas. Kesabaran adalah untuk yakinlah dan dijamin bahwa
    dia / dia tidak ada takut off selama proses ini, karena semua
    dokumentasi yang diperlukan sesuai dengan kebijakan transplantasi
    dari bertindak 21 Keputusan 2005 Konstitusi.

    Anda untuk mempelajari syarat dan ketentuan di bawah ini benar sebelum kita bisa
    lebih jauh ke depan baik-baik saja.

    SYARAT DAN KETENTUAN YANG TERJADI:
    1: Pasien adalah untuk memastikan bahwa ia / dia memenuhi syarat untuk menjual / nya
    Ginjal untuk menghindari segala bentuk akuisisi selama operasi.
    2: Pasien harus berada di atas usia 18 tahun dan di bawah akan
    menjadi batasan dari tawaran tersebut.
    3: Pasien harus menjadi warga negara hukum / negaranya.
    4: Pasien adalah untuk memastikan bahwa ia / dia tidak memiliki bentuk
    Kebiasaan kasar merokok.
    5: Pasien harus menjaga syarat dan ketentuan untuk memastikan bahwa kami
    transaksi dilakukan dengan cepat.
    6: Semua biaya perjalanan akan dibayar dan dibuat oleh Rumah Sakit.
    7: kegagalan untuk menyelesaikan transaksi akan mengarah pada pengadilan.
    8: Untuk semua pasien: Pasien harus sepatutnya mendaftar dengan papan
    federasi ginjal sebelum komitmen lebih lanjut untuk
    Operasi dapat mulai Yang akan biaya hanya ($ 150 dolar) atau jumlah
    yang bisa dapat hingga $ 150 dolar ketika dikonversi jika Anda tidak dapat membayar
    dalam dolar dari negara Anda
    9: Pasien akan memastikan bahwa ia / dia memiliki keluarga terdekat.
    10: Transfer uang pasien untuk / banknya: Setengah dari uang akan
    dibayarkan pertama yang pasien sebelum operasi pada dirinya / dia akan
    dimulai setelah yang sisanya akan dibayar setelah selesainya
    operasi. Operasi akan dilakukan di India, tapi ini adalah opsional untuk
    donor yang tidak ingin melakukan perjalanan tapi ingin operasi dilakukan dalam mereka
    negara.

    Ofure Rumah Sakit Klinik akan mengatur di sini semua sumbangan
    dokumen dan visa dan tiket perjalanan Anda. Sepertiga [1/3]
    dipindahtangankan ke account Anda oleh bank besar kami di sini.

    CATATAN: Transfer uang pasien ke rekening bank / nya: Setengah dari
    uang akan dibayarkan pertama yang donor sebelum operasi pada dirinya / dia
    akan dimulai setelah sisanya akan dibayar setelah
    selesai operasi. $ 200.000 USD akan menjadi setengah pertama
    angsuran, dan itu membutuhkan waktu kurang dari 5 jam untuk uang untuk mencerminkan di
    rekening bank Anda.

    Rincian Bank Diperlukan:
    1. Nama Pemegang Rekening: …………………………………….
    2. Nama Bank: ……………………………………… …….
    3. Nomor Rekening: ……………………………………… ..
    4. Swift Code: ……………………………………… ……
    5. Lokasi Bank: ……………………………………… …

    Dokumen yang diperlukan untuk pendaftaran:
     1 – Sebuah salinan laporan darah Anda
     2 – kartu identitas nasional

     Sebuah DONOR POTENSI HARUS
     1) Jadilah di baik kesehatan secara keseluruhan dan kondisi fisik
     2) Jadilah lebih tua dari 18 tahun dan lebih muda dari 60 tahun
     3) Memiliki rekening bank yang aktif.

     Sebuah DONOR POTENSIAL HARUS BEBAS DARI:
     1) alkoholisme atau penggunaan alkohol sering
     2) Penggunaan obat aktif
     3) Donor harus bersedia untuk melakukan proses pendaftaran donor sehingga
     untuk menyelesaikan operasi ginjal Dan perhatikan bahwa Anda harus
    mengirimkan salinan scan kartu identitas hukum sehingga kita tahu
    dan mengidentifikasi siapa kita berhadapan dengan dan Anda diminta kembali ke
    kita dengan fotokopi Kartu Identitas Anda.

    Beri kami respon yang cepat sehingga kita dapat menetapkan pengacara kami untuk memulai
    persiapan dokumen perjalanan Anda.

    Kami menunggu respons mendesak Anda

    Terima kasih untuk ketulusan Anda.

    Salam..
    Dr Williams Micheal
    konsultan Nefrologi
    OCH

  • Anon
    27 February 2017

    Apologies for spelling errors in last post: big fingers/phone keyboar. Also, last word of last point should read radio, not chemo.

  • Anon
    27 February 2017

    Fact:
    – no biomimetic drug has ever induced hibernation, which is defined as greater than 24 hrs torpor
    – it is not sufficient to just measure a reduced temperature to label a phenomenon as torpor, one must measure the oxygen consumption rate. Actually the latter is sufficient. If both are measured, then the fall in metabolic rate must precede any fall in temperature. Likewise with arousal. Any other sequence, and it’s not torpor, it’s something else.
    – Hibernation places not only normal cells in stasis but so too cancerous cells, meaning they too would become radioresistant. Even then, radioresistance only occurs if the oxygen tension falls, which only happens if there is no breathing and the glottis is closed, which occurs in hibernators intermittently. Said another way, you have to zap them when pO2 is low, ideally at its lowest. The reason is complicated. But then again, why would you if cancerous cells also go dormant at low pO2.
    – A human-sized hibernator, an adult, will die at 15 °C, because of size-related thermophysical factors. A human might reach the mid-20s in hibernation but not much lower. Think: bear-size, but not bear-shaped. If body temperatures falls lower a hibernator will arouse, or if temperature falls insidiously slowly it will die.
    – Hibernators can to some extent protect themselves against soft or photonic ionizing radiation like x- and gamma-rays but basically not against hard, particle radiation, because ‘in-track’ oxygen is produced from the radiolysis of water, which spuriously rises the local pO2. Interestingly, it might be a way to supply radioresustant but ischemic cells with O2 … granted, it’s a stretch.
    – To effectively target cancer in hibernation with radiation is if canceroys cells are less resistant to it than normal cells. One way to do that is to first target cancerous cells with an agent that would exclusively prevent them from going into hibernation, like a drug. In fact, such an experiment in hiberbators was successfully undertaken but without the chemo
    – The only possible other way for hibernation to perhaps cure cancer is through the autophagy or self-consumption of hibernation. Hibernation feeds off itself, and recycles dead or dying cell components. Normal cells may possibly also out-starve cancerous cells or better tolerate the harsh, acidic milieu of hibernation. This occurs with with other pathogens, like parasites.

  • Avelino Carvalho
    24 February 2017

    Dear Sir,
    Avoiding constipation could help prevent cancer.
    I had constipation problems, but I was able to overcome it by certain exercises which I would like to share with you.
    When I was working on offshore the beds and bed mattresses provided to us was very ordinary. The reason for Constipation could be because of bed mattresses, that would form curves and not flat enough, during our sleep at night. When I woke up in the mornings I could not walk straight. Then after I woke up I again used to sleep on the flat floor for 10 minutes or so and I used to not get constipated and walk normally. Did a small study over this problem.
    Procedure:
    When a person gets up from his bed in the morning ,AGAIN IMMEDIATELY HE MUST SLEEP / LYE DOWN ON A FLAT SURFACE ( floor ), perfectly level ,with hands/shoulders touching the floor and hands spread, without any pillow. Then both the knees /legs touching each other, bring up ( not lift up ) with feet touching the floor and move the legs left and right slightly. Also tap the feet on the floor, this creates a movement inside the stomach.

    Then, walk slowly and casually ( not holding body and legs tight ) on a straight line say 5 to 10 meters long , up and down, this surface should also be level, when the person walks he must move his shoulders as if running, this moves the stomach slightly left and right but swiftly.
    Then rotate the shoulder/hand first the right then the left.
    Both the shoulders should not be rotated simultaneously.
    Regards
    Avelino