Krebiozen Cancer Treatment
injection · 1951–1966
SHORT PITCH (AS SOLD)
A substance extracted from the blood of Argentinean horses exposed to Actinomyces bovis, said to mobilize the body's own defenses against cancer and produce objective tumor reduction without the toxicity of conventional treatment.
THE ACTUAL EVIDENCE
No independently controlled trial demonstrated antitumor activity. The AMA's 1951 status report (PMID 14873580) found Ivy's 22 cases too incomplete and uncontrolled to support efficacy claims. The National Cancer Institute's review of 504 submitted cases likewise found no antitumor activity. FDA chemical analysis in 1963 identified the substance as creatine monohydrate in mineral oil, with some vials containing only mineral oil (PMID 4196527). Creatine monohydrate is a common endogenous compound with no established anticancer mechanism. Krebiozen and its renamed variant Carcalon were classified by the American Cancer Society as unproven cancer treatments in 1973.
PRACTITIONERS
INGREDIENTS
CASES
CLAIMS
- Krebiozen produces objective antitumor responses in cancer patients, including measurable tumor reduction and extended survival, as shown by enzyme-analysis data from clinical observations. refuted
- Krebiozen is derived from the blood of Argentinean horses inoculated with Actinomyces bovis, and contains a naturally occurring anti-cancer substance found only in horses exposed to this bacterium. refuted
- FDA laboratory analysis of Krebiozen samples found the drug to consist of creatine monohydrate dissolved in mineral oil; some samples contained only mineral oil with no other identifiable ingredient. replicated
- Andrew Ivy and the Durovic brothers received financial benefit from Krebiozen's distribution, including per-dose patient charges and, in the case of the Durovic brothers, funds transferred to Swiss accounts prior to legal proceedings. replicated
SOURCES
- "Who will bell the cat?" Andrew C. Ivy and Krebiozen (1984)
- STATUS report on "krebiozen" (1951)
- Unproven methods of cancer management. Krebiozen and carcalon (1973)
- The krebiozen story. Is cancer quackery dead? (1967)
- Can Krebiozen Treat Cancer? (2017)
NOTES
Krebiozen was an injectable preparation distributed by the Krebiozen Research Foundation in Chicago from 1951 onward, promoted by Andrew C. Ivy as a cancer treatment derived from horse blood serum. The composition was withheld from independent researchers throughout the 1950s. Ivy introduced a renamed variant, Carcalon, in 1959. After the FDA’s 1963 chemical analysis found the vials contained creatine monohydrate in mineral oil, Krebiozen’s interstate distribution was banned in 1963. Its sale within Illinois was banned in 1973. The American Cancer Society formally classified both Krebiozen and Carcalon as unproven cancer methods in its 1973 statement (PMID 4196527).