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American Tobacco

Discussion with Dr. Dean Burk on His Activities in Matters of "Laetrile" and Cigarette Smoke Modification

Date: 22 Dec 1969
Length: 6 pages
MNAT00722129-MNAT00722134
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Fields

Named Person
Burk
Scind
Farmer
Krebs
National Cancer Institute
Dhew
International Association For Cancer Victims And Friends Inc
Aacr
Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center
Kensler, Tobacco Working Group
Tobacco Working Group
Nci
Hcn
University, O.F. California Medical School Hospital
Litigation
10004026
Type
Presentation/Speech
Meeting Materials
Request
39
Date Loaded
23 Nov 1998
Attachment
60331883
Author
Baker-Cg, National Cancer Institute

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l"of ~he I~CCOY~I Decombor ~2, 196~ Acting Director, N~t~om~l Cancer Institute Diseussiol with Di'. Dean Bu.ri~ on H~s Activities in M~ttel.s of "Lacti'ile" and Cig~'r~tt.e S~ol(e Modiflc~tioa Di'. or. ~. ~ I met from 2:30 p.m, untJl ~:15 p.m. in the a~crnoon of Dec~:d~cr ~ in ~ office. Dr. Durk c~me ~o the meeting at my request. ! e~pl~in~:d tha~ ~ wa~ receiving l~.rge numbers of inquiries about his activlt~,~:s ~nd had i,ccelved ~ zi~b~r of concerns about statcme~its ~bbi'~bU~reL to h~i. These derived from state government offlci~in, Cons~'cc~;aen, ahd others, i wi~h~d, thei•cfore, to hc~r directly from i'~i~:; abou~ thc~e activities and ,,~ .,ested th~ the dlscus~ion cover "v~o i~:~.:[~ ~:~rt~: i) "I~%c~ri3~" activlt~cs and 2) cigarette smohe ~c~iv:P~,~.~, an& %h~% e~ch aT thos~ be £u~the~ divided into th~ ~c~cntl/'ic a~p~cts and non-seien~ifi¢ a~l~CtS. |4oreover, within th~ ca~c[~ory of ~cici~tifie a~mct~ I ~i'~be~ to 6isc~s~ ~:w ;'~tr_ ~ ~nd in F irma s~u~ic~ a~d, ]~ost i~l~ortantly, the il~terpret~tion~ Of th~ dat~ in ".'cfcvo~cc t~ u,~a%. ~le In~ilcat~d h~ w~ 61ad t~ h~ve the opp~rt~mity to 4iscua~ these activities and im-@lled that he had not had, he felt, ~uffic~' .,nt opportunity lu th~ past t~ di~u~ ~ome ~%ters ~ith ~eni~ "L~:e~r ~ ie" Aetivi_. tie__~ss Oleo of the co~,fusinS Issues which we agreed upon ~as the lack of ]n'cc~ioh of ~Ae te~m "L~cti'il.e." Dr. B~k ~t~ted theft this ~I~.~ class tera~ for Syoups of compot~Id8 that could under certain ~ond~tions i,='cGucc iiC '. 1[¢ ~t&tc~ th&t tl',el'e ~e 16 eem~o~i%(l~ ibex% h~vo been 2of erred to at cite t~me or another ao "L~etrile" by different groups. ~iost of tile ~<vt~.dalin used ks extracted from bitter &]itond ~eats. with h~m~ ir.activ~tlou ~f ~uz~ ~hleh ~h~ s~llt the eompc~d. A ~U~the~ ¢o:aplin~tion in the d2r;cussions of "Laetrile" has originated from the be siren concui-l.ently with the ar~v~d~lln and/or other eot~pounds. Yet, it :~ak~:s cousi~l'abla difference xdlether amy64ali~ i~ ~.iveu aloha or • in combln~tion with these e~zyr~e prepar~tion~ since ~-glucosldase Sl~llts the ~<y~dalln i~to benzaldehyde~ }ICi~ an& ~lucoao~ while ~i~'6(bili~. almue i
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-2- p,_"ob~A,ly is not ~plit to any appreciable desl, ee. FYOm the data ~,vail~:~ie it nppc~r~ theft ~.j~(~lin alone ic a compound of io~ CJven ~th no :~e~i;l[w~tle ~:]'jn~ of toxicity b!f several p~maeter~-- corL,~.i:~:L~' at levcl:~ of about 500 mlLligx'~l/kilo~r~n). On th:~ other hdl~d, ",:hen it i~ g~[w:u ill col1~not~on ~tlth ~-~,l~eo:~d~t~e enz~.~c )u, cp:,:'~.tio;~, the ~(,xicity can b~ a))Drcci~ble ~t co~'tain do~o ~-~n&,es. ~'he tD~.c ~'ela~ionI~i:~pl, h~'twecn the a6ministrmtion of the enzymes s- -v~ ~ e ~ ) ~, ~lin a:'~ also ~po~tol~t in tea-ms of toxicity D~'. L'~?. h~s p~.zson~:lly conducted many oypcrlment~ lu v~t),o utilizing ~zcibc~ and other cc~l culture~ ~li~ ~,".~d(~li~ ~nd rel~ted compox~l~s. ~.'ith ~nd ~ritho~b addition of ~-glueo~ida~e preparations. He ~as~cs k"~o;~icity" h~ ScverI~l ~o~'~lo~osic~l ~nd hioch~lic~l p~..r&meters differ,'n~ t~es. lie h~z ~I~o do~e ~ fc~" exper~en~s ~'I! v~vo in tumor- bca~in:~ ;,~ice ~nd l'~ts ~ thou~h by his o~n ~d~.d[.Dio~. il~ufficicnt llu:~,.b~r:; to d~'a~ ~t~int~.~aliy valid conclusions in the:'-e ~fnole aural expe1'iments. (~ stated th,%t he believes these experiments tended to be con~,~tcu-~ with the dat& reported in the SCIi~ report, K.V.) II~ ~l]. of the~e experi;~ents, no indic~tlo~ of toxlolty nor ant~t~mo~- : cffec~;~ ~:ye noted ~len a~I~(ii~:L~1~ alc~ %'as civ0~. (Dr. ~u'k indicated ~h~Lt pr~l~min~ry ~;tud~e~ ~ug~est~d sol~o hinds of ~ot~'ity ~'h.~n the do~c :LCW~:LS of ~=!~,Zdalln ~cx'e pushed %o ¢~xtr~:~ly h~h leve~ thoiL~h i~e did no~ :;pccify ~:hi~ kln~i of ~c~ivity, ) On the ot!~or hand, ~thcn ~.-~iuco~i~i~;e ~rci,:~a~ions (~'u~.lly derived f~'o~ plant i;ourcc~) %'ere LL<h~il~.ste~ed~ si~v~l biolo~icz~l r~spo;1.~es %~oFe di!tocb~le, ~l[d~ ~t h~h~" luvols, toxicit~ W~rS evldelr~. ~t i0 f~rthe~, e].a~lued %h~t those prc~,:.~.t~on~ ~ %¢~h the ~-~Inoo~ida~e givc~ IP so~Ioti~o bofor~ the cd~ini::trmtion of the ~ygdalin, produce anti-tu~lor effects (studiec reported in the SCII,D report indicate increased life span and/or reduction in t~or size in both mice ~nd rat %priors--Dr. Burk's studies performed in his laboratory arc consistent with thc~o findlz~ ~ithough s~%all nt~ibers of au~als have bcun studied). I asked Dr. Bark if h~ knew of a~ soundly conducted clinical tyials ~.ork vith any of the substances eall~d "Laotrile". ~-nd he. said he did not ~ow Of an~. tho~ several thou~Id pstiol)ts h~vo been treated vith the sub~tancc. ~e ~ppa-~ently ~c' ~r,~ressed %h~t soverzl patients , h~vo shol:n improvc~nt follo~in~ treatment0 I indicated that it ~a~ ~ell hnO~ in clinical work tha~ thi~ kind of inform~tion (i.e., reports of ~oue p~%ticnt~ .~howing improvements in uncontro31cd o~udie~) %~s¸ totally unreliable in indic~tlng ~h~ther ~ sub~tance ~as of eliniea~ value. I also t~'ied to conv£n¢o him.that the ~6~ents to be made in evaluating m~teri~l~ of cl~r the~apo~ti~ benefit in m~n form ~ ccmlplex ......... : ................... :7-~-7 ...............
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- 3 - A~ rc$;:~rd~J i~; r~,por~, on the rcquc~ for an ~fi~ on ~vgdalir~ ~iTb~e" .~, ~, ~u, lulpi~cJ:~el}ly to co co!z~uctcd at the Unlvor.':i~y of ' ~'~ ~.[cdlcal Sc,~ool Y.otpitcl~ C:~n i"~'aI~cisco, i said I wondered why. in vicar of %he co:~plc~csy Dc~:ative f!lld~u~ with r.d~¢inistratlon of ~.y~;d~lin a-~onc it. ~uiu~l~, a nyoz'.c ~:o~Id ~I,~!it to acbainister the mcot¢:yi~l to v, all. I n~:vcr ~,ot ~ cl,~l" mmv~:i, to this question, lie responded to the qucsbion by not~tij, th:~% f~everr~l ~:bients ~npl:ov~d %~ith ~&~linistratlon of amygdI~lin or '~Lc~ct:'i!e:' (a,lp~rently often these patients h~ve rcccive~ othc~ forms o2 trcat::~cut), i ~old his, I ald not thinh th~%t that ~as a s~itisfactory reason for ~,~:~'t'~.~i~ in y~;:,lle o;' in his ~oLt~.~rs, ~uch a~ %be one to :.h'. F~rxcr ~,~ch ~:~ ~'.a~i:, public. ~ ~a~ clinical tri,~ls ~tith "Laetrlle" should be alio'~'~d, particularly since some activities in the "Laetrile" ar~a ara illc~ul and a l~lll;iba~, of individuals ~:ith less than adequate z,edical stand~n'd~ have been a~ainlsterlng this ~cteylal to ~atlents, shirti~z the la~,'s" ~d receivizg iucolue therefrom. Spcclflcally i ~nqulyed abo~t the ~ctlvitics of Dr. l~'ebs ~nd his son. |{e allo~ed tho.t their , r_cbivlt±c~ ~ere not entirely responsible o~es ~md eSalmed no association ~, ~t ~ ~t~.. ,~ I pc.~n~cd out. ho~eve~, that many people ~erc sssoe~atln~ not onl~" z,i,~, hub be¢~u:~ of his title, the ~;atlonal Cancer Iustlt~rbe -' ~' "' ~ nativities ~rh.!ch are clearly a,,;~lus~ the policy of }I!:4 and the i~Cl.,.~- responded th~ he cmLld not be re~Imnsihle for what kind of associations ~oplo would m~he. "' '~' i did not f'c~l that I convinced hi~ t~%t activities such as ~?pcarlng ~: on the pro~r,~ ~'~ the ~cctin~ of Lhe Ir.ternational Assoeiatio~ for ' C~,~ car Victims and Fric~,Js, Inc., ~hich included chiropractors and '. ~, o~i~ezs of inadequate z~edical capabilities, ~¢erc inappropriate aud not co;~.con~nt vl'~h the policies of the Institute and Eh~. Dr. Ik~v]c felt t~:~t it ~;~: his decision on ~;h~t~vcr 6roo.ps he ~i~hed to talk befor~ oi~ a~y ~ub~ects he tho~<ht were important. I did not feel also that . I ~uccccdcd ~n convincin~ hi~:, that the probla~ ~s more co'replicated .... ~h~ ~cl th.%t his actions affected many othe~" people besides hiauclf .~id the ic~.ediate au~Icl%cc. }~<o:~ples provided bM me included ~,.::onG o'5hcr~ the l?robl¢~%s ¢rc~ted for the heelth officer's of the ~, ~e of Co, lifornla who ~•re att¢~phlnz to sSop quackery In the State of California. Considerable co~ccz"ns ea'o belnS ex|)rosscd by these offiolal~ ~nld thely ~ledical consul%ants that Dr. Burk,%'ho is listed a~: a nt~ff z~enber of th(! *;~tio*lal C~ncer InstitKt~ has been t~ll,~ &,;;d '~ritir<q f¢~vorably ~bo%It "Laetrile" ~nd that this was m~]~in~: the job ~,~ore difficult fo~ the health officials to o~%tla~ quacked-/. I s~o.tcd t~, a/i?e~ont %,ith theD~ colleerno ~i~ rolter~ted ~y vi~ that ~uch t, ctions on his I~rt al.e inappropriate ~o long as he it ~ staff uc~:bcr of the ~C~ a/%d in the D}I~ but ~i~*. X 61~ *%st feel 7 had sueces holy made the point with Dr. Beth. I think he feel~ that data obtained in the laboratory should be communleatod Irros~eotlve
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of ~uch octlvlt~es. Tllou[~h he cl~iIaod th~Lt h¢ %~S only co:~4~nunlerltillC fL~S~ i 6i~,qroed ~.~:~I ~ti~tc(~ th;~t )~is ~nt~rprcti~tlonE,~ such as u~v~ir,~ that ol~i~c:.l tri~!s be ),erfor,~cd In the face of insufficient evidence %0 ~l~%~?t this ~671~i~io%~ (U~ I ~aW ~t), could h~'dly ~ consldol'cd . ]:cr<~l~ n discussion of the f~c~c. I also exprensed s~rpl,i~ that as a ~c~iof f, cien%ict of lone ~tandln6; ~*d pa~ic~p:rtIDZ Ove~' the years il~ "~he :,~ore cu~tehaiD' Sot~ie%y mectln~s~ such &s the F¢,der~tlo~ ~icetin/~,s pco21e--~%d~ dn I$" vic~ ~n~ompete*it %,~ the usual s~elltlf~0 st~uldards-- c~, :~ev¢l'ed of thole o~: the ~o<~r~z of the r~cotln~, of the [nterootlonal A~:~,oei~t:;o~i of Ccr, cer ~ict~l~lo &nd F1,1end~, ~ne. ~ to~ohed o~ the ~htO ~J,'~n~ ew~l~ation of effects ~ ~Aa~)~ ~id in'tc~l~re~io[~ of e]i~llcGl d~tc~9 ko felt he had l'~ad ~uffl~icn~ly in thos~, s~b~ecZs to b~ well il~fo1~;',~. I said I d~d not thlnh this ~zas suff~ci~Dt ~Incc it co'ald Y~o~ ~;,;~%~;h %h~ ~cti~ItdoB of thOSe %~hO Ira/St ~et~nlly ~e ~oh ~coision~ ~:~ develop f~/rly elahol'ato a~ste~,s for d~811~ ~i~h %he~e co~,~lex subjec~. i dSnc~a~,~, d,~$~ f~'om %hu CaTloor Chemotherapy ~ntioi~l ~e1"~Ice Ce2*tcr i~ ~ic-~c~i~[~ toxlelty and iucffectu~] a~vSi-t~o%' ~ffect~ }le nc~i he ~:0~,~ :~ou~d i:* view of the GC~/;~]) report vh~ch h0 felt rugorto~ r~o%%:idly co;,d%i~:~e~ %;o~,~:. lie ~oell~ves that the illfor~atJ.o]~ W~s ]%Ot eonclusiv~ ~'~'e:'l the %;ozk Of %h~ C~n~e~ In~tit~t~ ~ndlc~%ti~ ei~h~ toxicity 01" ~.tl,.t~or il~c/foctivenesS. ~ told him It wa~ ;,~y impressio~ El'ore gl:u~clni~ at so~o data thief there w~u~ more info~;~atlon ava~l~ble tha~ ol~ 2~- m'.il;~ais, hut I wo~ld look ipto this l%~rther. }~c ~sked if he l,~i~ht h~ve ~l~Ition~l d~%~ if it is ~nil~le. m%~ I indicated I would oupi~ly him ~ith thlo if it proved to be th~ case. Here krlofly, b~c~use of the ~teness of the hour, ~ re/sed a i~u~,bor of q'~cstions ~S to in %,itro and _iD v~vo data on stuai~s c01~¢erned ~'ith the effects of cigarette ~moke O~ biological systeI~Is, l[c In6ie~t~d hc l~d doric ~ n~nbor of studies %~It}l different filters, eo~))a~dng tOXiCity effects Of poOlfle~ ~u~d %u%modlfied smoke on c~lls ~ yli'ro. SO~;o filtcr~ ~ore effective in reducing toxicity ~s meast~'ed by %hls D~'. Kenslcr fro~ the Tobacco Working Croup had vimited D~~, ~r~. r~cen~ly ~.d concluded that much'of the work r~p~osentod dat~ from indivi '~l ~yo~ocol~ an~ ~h~% i~f~icien% ~Iz~%ion Of %h~ d~%a
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-5- b,~d ~¢en do~30 tO ~e,'~,Lit ~l~tAly$~is of DAd eo~elusi~zJm f1"o~, the l'osu]t~. • ~ur,~ ir~d~c~tcd thc~ ~; the Dt%Ldles pl'ogrosl~od he intended to })col the info~utlon to~c~h~r into nu I~ro~rlat~ L~2~r~zatlo ~it~le for ~ublioa'~ion ~;i i~ p~.ler. To llJy hl~owledce he has go~c ~o i~ wive ~mrk, aud "~e had ex~e*;slve di~eu~zions again or: th~ l!etbo~ Of-rolat~i~l~'~, the ~j~ vitro data to mcu. I indlcated it wa~ ~;~i~oadir~g to talk about ~'3}.~.t~j3'r ci2arcti¢~, in p~a't, because Ics.~ h~::~rdous sc~:mcd to co.w~'y l~or< ,~D~ro)~r~tc]y that ~d~atev~r'~--dih",~sl~c" hazar~ ~ould wry likely i'r p~'~'~ent, aud hcJ]thicl, di(l not con,~uro ~Ip thIG concept. ~ut v.orc ±~).orti,~t3y, ~mp][c~.tion th,~.~ the i_n.v:i_tr_o data could Imply + ~ + .. ~.ac, clc~-~ uufouz+ao(i. Moreovcr~ I ~tatcd th~.t dc~(:r,~i~,~t~o:~ of cffc, cts of l.~odifie~tion on cigarette sI~okc as regards r~n c*~n be d~tcrmincd o.-.ly from data collected in human pol~lations. ]):-. Luz~k fools that ]ooclfleatlon of biochemical pathways, ~lhich n~.e co; nou to :2a~,y types of org~lisms. ~ncludi~, man, c~l serve as an" indication of the offsets in r.cn. I t,!~reed tbo.t it might he rcoaonable ~..~c~ that re6uction in uy~nide levels might be bencfl¢~l to l::a~ eonp~rcd to the ]limber levels (if~ }}icy_ a}'.e h~5~~ fn_o~vlh). 7 told 'i~ I ~,'6s concerned cites ~b~t his personally ngreelug to test filters ~.,~G.r~erLaps other Imterial ~la' cerises" ~ , i)~cludi)~g those from profit -~ ,~ ~.,,.x ~,~ organization~, on two coquets: (i) ~','e have establi~bed ih conjunclio:l ~r~th the Tobacco Worhing Group a critic~l set of er]turie for t¢.~tini~ g~evlccs sad modifications propo:,ed by indivi(hlal i~vel~tors t~d orc~u~i~mt~on~. ~lov~ver, ~re }lave told all of ~hel~ tbat ~.~o ~:ill not acccp~ their devices or ~odIflc~tlo.~8 for t~sti:~g until after we haw obtai~cd baseline data I~~, the selected assay systems and are reag~v to cater all th~ (rcasol~able) d(:'¢icc:~ or i:~vcntions for ~vf.l~atloll at ti~c z~,y~e time to sssure equity. This equitable treatment now is ~ ~c, ca ~o be upset by Dr. ~urh since he, a~ a :~lember of the i':CI, J~ tcllind a f(~. individuals that be vill s~s~o their dcviec~. I a~ked hLc whether he had develoFcd any means for equitable treatment of ~3~ those who might w~sh to have their r~aterlals tested. (2) I stated th&'~ I was particularly eoncen~cd about this since it also appe~.red t at he w s psri'on~dns what might be considered devel-. op~ie~t~Ll yeso&rch for • • ~ " - -* " 1 lof~t m~glng or~,a~i~%1o~ ~;itb the ta×p,Ivers' ~'~o:~cy c~d even in some cr~es selectively ~rov~ding an endorsement of (~ ~?roduct by a Oover~ent empl(~,co, }iis answer was that he ~as obtain~zg certain information and i~cterials from these individuals which helped him in his own research~ therefore, he did *~o~ see that ~bis was (~ ~ ,oblam. Again, ~ felt I had not quite communicated the main points. /
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AD~C=" ~,o:~a d~cu~on of the dlffere~c~ bot~cen ~n~Iv~dual bollc£s ~i~d i~u]iclcs of or~i~.l z~tlou~, ~rin~ ~ich ho cl~il~cd ho va$ c~rt~i~ly o~fi~c ~i~ ~o~i~ of all corF~.~pO1~den~ ~o ~n~ from h~ on L'Laet~le" ~-ot ~po~ ~o ~c eonL:ornc6 ~hon I ~id %hat ~ nccdcd to keop tr~¢k ~f ~c~ ~ctiviti~,~ ~;~d f~4o~ ti~c to tlmc %hat it ~ould D~ob~.bly b~ not bc i.n ~rc¢;~% ~ith h~ v~¢w~. '~Ic d~d ~ot ~eem %o be dlct~d Carl G. Ba~:er, M.D.

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