Anticancer and antioxidative effects of micronized zeolite clinoptilolite.

Background: Treatment of cancer-bearing mice and dogs with micronized zeolite clinoptilolite (MZ) led to improvement of the overall health status, prolongation of life span and decrease of tumor size in some cases. It also reduced lipid peroxidation in the liver of mice.

Materials And Methods: The experiments were performed on various tumor cell cultures and tumor-bearing animals. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze if MZ could interfere with Doxorubicin-induced lipid peroxidation and consequential production of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE).

Results: MZ reduced the metabolic rate of cancer cells and increased binding of HNE to albumin in vitro. It selectively reduced generation of HNE in vivo in tumor stroma after Doxorubicin treatment leaving onset of lipid peroxidation intact in malignant cells. Combined treatment with Doxorubicin and MZ resulted in strong reduction of the pulmonary metastasis count increasing anticancer effects of Doxorubicin.

Conclusion: Interference of MZ with lipid peroxidation might explain some of the beneficial effects of this particular zeolite in combined cancer therapy.