The Beljanski Approach: outside the box

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  August-Sept, 2005  by Monique S. Beljanski

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The job of the physician is to alleviate and, if possible, eradicate disease. However, accomplishing this is often very difficult as most treatments for cancer also come with significant adverse effects, often making it impossible to truly recover and compromising the patient's remission. Essentially, the potential benefit of the treatment is thwarted by its harsh toxicity.

Biologists and physicians are charged with the task of understanding the origin of the disease and preventing its appearance and development. Both physicians and scientists approach this task differently, but their goals are complementary.

On the one hand, complementary and alternative medicines look for substances that can be effective without inducing negative side effects. Yet, within their ranks they often lack the disciplined scientists needed to provide them such a treatment. On the other hand, conventional medicine, being well connected with the pharmaceutical industry, rejects this approach entirely as something which is impossible, and unprofitable.

This dilemma calls for innovation--for thinking outside the box--and thus was born the Beljanski Approach. It applies rigorous scientific standards to a combination of conventional and holistic approaches.

The late Mirko Beljanski, PhD, a biologist-biochemist who worked for over 30 years at the famous Pasteur Institute in Paris, devoted a book to the exploration of the basic principles of DNA replication and transcription, and the role of trigger molecules in normal and malignant gene expression. (1) In his book, Beljanski focused on complex mechanisms at the biochemical level, analyzing the pathways involved when cells differentiate or escape control during cancer development. Mirko Beljanski devoted much effort to investigating the role of endogenous and exogenous molecules in triggering the differential release of information from DNA as well as influencing cell transformation. He also dedicated many years to searching for a "selective" orthobiological concept. He hoped to uncover the fundamental factors at the root of sickness or dysfunction and devise treatments, all without interfering with healthy cell function, long before this was the trend. He was one of the very few researchers who combined use of natural products with conventional cancer treatment, and demonstrated that these methods worked in conjunction with one another to the patient's benefit.

All the products he developed are totally free of side effects, are of plant or biological origin and are taken orally. Of the many products he developed, this article will focus on two in particular: those that selectively target cancer DNA and cancer cells.

Selective substances targeting cancer DNA

The rapid multiplication of cancer cells is an exact reflection of the biological behavior of their DNA, whose physical characteristics as well as biological activity (DNA duplication and transcription) are elevated, compared to the DNA of healthy cells. Mirko Beljanski showed that activity of DNA is influenced by several factors; gene expression, enzymes involved in gene expression and factors which favor or impede DNA synthesis, all of which can be amplified or minimized. (1) He performed a series of in vitro experiments with DNA purified from various cancer cells.

He found that carcinogens trigger the unwinding of the cancer-DNA's secondary structure by successively and randomly attaching to vulnerable sites in purified cancer DNA. (1,2) An accurate visual method for measuring the soundness of the secondary structure is to evaluate its chromicity, that is to say, how much light passes through it.

He further observed that the unwinding of the cancer DNA is perfectly proportionate to the increase in DNA synthesis, which also correlates to the in vivo rate of cancer cell multiplication. (2) Each destabilizing substance contributed in varying degrees to the separation of the strands in the cancer DNA helix. (3) Their effects are additive and cumulative.

Interestingly enough, steroids were found to behave like carcinogens so long as the DNA utilized came from hormonally targeted tissues. Moreover, the increased multiplication at the cellular level seen with two frequently used biochemical products, DMSO and TPA, active in cell differentiation, can be explained by their ability to destabilize DNA. (4)

Yet none of these effects is observed in healthy cell DNA. In fact, the DNA in healthy cells is not destabilized in the presence of carcinogenic compounds, nor is the behavior of healthy cells modified.

Seeing the consistency in the results observed in the experiments with carcinogens, (5) Mirko Beljanski devised a test, the Oncotest, (6) which illustrates the effect of substances with carcinogenic potential on in vitro synthesis of cancer-DNA versus healthy cell DNA. Mutagens or not, it demonstrated that all carcinogens behave in very much the same way. (7)

Cancer-Fighting Drugs

A: At the DNA level

Dr. Beljanski then reasoned that a substance that reacts in an equal and opposite way from carcinogens must surely exist. While carcinogens increase unwinding and duplication in cancer DNA, Beljanski looked for molecules that would do the opposite, that is to say, partially close the DNA strands and slow down cancer DNA synthesis. The Oncotest provided the tools necessary to search for just such a compound.