Wormwood IV Therapy — Research and Benefits

Wormwood therapy provides cancer patients with additional support during traditional cancer treatments. There are many potential benefits from this therapy, such as effectively destroying cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells.

We offer wormwood therapy for cancer patients looking to complement their traditional cancer treatments.

At Wellbeing Medical Group, we’re dedicated to providing you with therapies that are well-researched so you can feel confident in your decision to undergo complementary cancer therapies.

Supporting Research for Wormwood Therapy

Sweet wormwood has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for malaria, fevers, inflammation, bleeding and headaches. In vitro studies show that the active compounds in wormwood may be an effective way of treating African sleeping sickness, protozoal infections and Chagas disease⁹.

Cytotoxic effects of wormwood compounds have also been evaluated in tumour cell lines¹ˆ¹⁸⁻²⁰ˆ²⁵ˆ²⁶. Wormwood-based combination therapies are part of the standard treatment used for malaria. Reviews have indicated that it is as effective as quinine⁴ˆ⁵, but that its uses may be limited because of an increased risk of relapse⁶ˆ⁷. It is also unclear whether it is effective against quinine-resistant malaria strains. Additional drug development is being pursued after reports of wormwood-based therapy resistance also appeared²⁸.

There are limited studies on wormwood for other health conditions. In one RCT, a low-dose wormwood formulation shows clinically relevant pain reductions in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis³. A recent study has indicated long-term safety with improvements maintained at 6 months. Studies in advanced cancer patients have suggested that oral add-on wormwood derivatives are well tolerated, although ototoxicity monitoring is needed¹³ˆ²¹. Different studies showed that oral administration did not produce a response²⁹ˆ³⁰, although modest clinical activity was seen with intravenous administration³⁰. Further research is needed to determine the conditions under which compounds derived from wormwood may be safe and effective.

How Wormwood Works

The active component of sweet wormwood makes use of its antimalarial effects by free radicals formed via cleavage of the endoperoxide bond in its structure, which are responsible for eradicating the Plasmodium species²³. It also induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of Leishmania donovani promastigotes⁸, has antiproliferative effects on medullary thyroid carcinoma cells², and by modulating p38 and calcium signalling¹⁴, induces apoptosis in a lung cancer cell line.

Research has indicated that it significantly inhibited cell growth and proliferation, and caused G1 cell-cycle arrest in neuroblastoma cell lines²⁵. Semi-synthetic derivatives of wormwood demonstrate anti-inflammatory activity by attenuating COX-2 production via downregulation of serine/threonine kinase and MAPK pathways²⁴. Recent findings suggest that wormwood-derived compounds trigger apoptosis in colorectal cells through the ROS-mediated mitochondria-dependent pathway²⁶.

Wormwood works as a hormone regulator, specifically reducing excess prolactin and oestrogen in breast cancer. It is activated by ionic ferrous iron, which cancer cells accumulate. Iron is an essential compound for cancer cell proliferation. Most cancer cells have high rates of iron intake and express a high concentration of transferrin receptors on the cell surface. The rapid growth of abnormal cells utilises relatively large amounts of iron mainly in the form of holotransferrin.

The wormwood derivative has a peroxide bond that is activated by iron to generate hydrogen peroxide. This free radical of oxygen stresses cancer cells, which are always deficient in peroxide-neutralising catalase enzymes. Normal cells with catalase can harmlessly dissipate the peroxides. Healthy cells are approximately 100 times less vulnerable to dying from wormwood therapy than cancer cells. In cancer cells the high-valent oxo iron species create a surge of endoperoxides, depolarising the mitochondrial membranes and causing a disruption in the electron transport chain.

Other Important Actions of Wormwood

Essential in the regulation of P53 DNA repair genes and cyclin-dependent kinases.

Induces apoptosis and slows growth in cancers such as fibrosarcoma, lymphoma, breast, pancreatic, oesophageal, prostate, and ovarian/fallopian/peritoneal carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and liver hepatocellular cancer.

Wormwood eases the down-regulation of nuclear factor kappa B, which is the master control gene for inflammation. A sign of intense inflammation in the cancer cell is high blood levels of CRP and ESR, and also mid- to high-normal LDH. These markers can help to indicate which patients are good candidates for wormwood therapy.

Aids in inhibiting angiogenesis, which disrupts the blood supply to tumours.

Regulates important epigenetics or DNA silencing, including methylation and histone protein acetylation.

Targets translationally controlled tumour protein TCTP – inhibits cysteine protease enzyme, and also a SERCA-type calcium transporter enzyme.

Anti-Neoplastic Properties

What makes the properties of wormwood and its derivatives integral components of complementary cancer therapy are its anti-neoplastic properties. While being tested by the National Cancer Institute in the USA, specifically for its anti-cancer activity on 55 of the most common cancer cell lines, the study²³ showed breast, prostate, ovary, colon, kidney, CNS and melanoma cells showed increased sensitivity. Further research noted a specific sensitivity to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells²⁴ˆ²⁵. Clinical studies on patients with breast, cervical, liver and lung cancer have shown tumour reductions of up to 70%, a short-term increase in lifespan and even remission²⁶⁻²⁸.

Wormwood derivatives also showed synergistic effects with chemotherapeutic agents. When used in combination with gemcitabine in pancreatic carcinoma, growth inhibition was increased fourfold in vitro and in vivo, with the apoptosis rate also being doubled compared to monotherapy with gemcitabine²⁹. An additional study indicated increased inhibition of metastasis and cancer cell growth in murine Lewis lung carcinoma cell lines when used in conjunction with cyclophosphamide compared to monotherapy³⁰.

Cancer cells are often characterised by developed resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. A combination of wormwood with doxorubicin and pirarubicin showed increased cytotoxicity in K562/ADR leukaemia and GLC4/ADR lung carcinoma cells³¹. Along with the above, sensitisation was also seen in combination with cisplatin in ovarian carcinoma³². Even independent of p53 status, wormwood was capable of inducing strong sensitisation to gemcitabine in hepatocellular carcinoma cells³³.

Due to wormwood and its derivatives’ ability to selectively disrupt tumour growth, its cell cycle and proliferation pathways³⁴, it has an anti-carcinogenic effect. This process can be traced back to the particular properties of the tumour cells, such as increased metabolism, increased blood flow and thus increased iron and transferrin levels. In conjunction with being well tolerated, wormwood derivatives are also known to have an anti-neoplastic effect.

The anti-carcinogenic effect is based on the structural endoperoxide bridge, which can form cytotoxic radicals with heme groups or intracellular iron. These radicals primarily lead to cell cycle arrest and disrupt proliferative pathways³⁵⁻³⁷.

The reason for this specific effect against cancer cells is due to their increased metabolism, their increased requirement for iron and their increased number of transferrin receptors when compared to normal cells³⁸⁻⁴².

In addition, wormwood and its derivatives were able to induce various cellular signalling pathways that led to apoptosis or necrosis in gastric and oesophageal tumour cell lines⁴⁴⁻⁴⁷. Along with this, wormwood derivatives showed a reduction in the risk of metastasis by increasing cell adhesion⁴⁸.

Adverse Effects

Case Reports

Hepatitis: In a 52-year-old man following consumption of an herbal supplement containing wormwood extract¹⁷.

Acute cholestatic hepatitis: In a patient due to ingestion of wormwood tea as prophylaxis against malaria³¹.

Delayed haemolytic anaemia: Two cases after either oral or intravenous therapy with wormwood-based treatment for malaria³²ˆ³³. It is thought this reaction may be related to higher parasite loads³².

Ototoxicity and vertigo: Possibly related to oral wormwood derivatives among several advanced breast cancer patients in a safety trial¹³ˆ²¹. The study drug was otherwise largely well tolerated among patients.

Dermatitis: With topical use of wormwood¹¹.

Drug Interactions

CYP450 substrates: In laboratory studies, wormwood extracts induced CYP2B6 and CYP3A4²⁷ and may affect the serum concentration of drugs metabolised by these enzymes. Clinical relevance has yet to be determined.

Book Your Wormwood Therapy with Wellbeing Medical Group

If you want to find out more about wormwood therapy or book your appointment, get in touch with our team today. We’ll guide you through the process and ensure you receive the right complementary therapy for your needs.