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Insulin potentiation therapy combines insulin with chemotherapy with a goal of enhancing treatment effects.

Safety and precautions

Interactions with cancer treatments

In preclinicaltesting a drug, a procedure, or another medical treatment in isolated cells or in animals; preclinical evidence is considered only an initial indication of possible effects in people studies, insulin potentiation therapy has greatly increased the toxicity of methotrexate, a standard treatment for several types of cancer. Insulin treatment increases cellular uptake of methotrexate—a proposed mechanism of benefit—only “to a minor extent over a short period of time, and insulin-treated cells have the same steady-state methotrexate uptake as untreated cells.” But the “differences in cellular uptake do not explain an approximate 10,000-times increase in methotrexate cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells exposed to insulin.”1Sissung TM, Schmidt KT, Figg WD. Insulin potentiation therapy for cancer? Lancet Oncology. 2019 Feb;20(2):191-192.

Side effects or adverse events

Insulin can cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), which may require medical treatment.2Lasalvia-Prisco E, Cucchi S et al. Insulin-induced enhancement of antitumoral response to methotrexate in breast cancer patients. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. 2004 Mar;53(3):220-4.

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Author

Nancy Hepp, MS

Lead Researcher
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Ms. Hepp is a researcher and communicator who has been writing and editing educational content on varied health topics for more than 20 years. She serves as lead researcher and writer for CancerChoices and also served as the first program manager. Her graduate work in research and cognitive psychology, her master’s degree in instructional design, and her certificate in web design have all guided her in writing and presenting information for a wide variety of audiences and uses. Nancy’s service as faculty development coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine at Wright State University also provided experience in medical research, plus insights into medical education and medical care from the professional’s perspective.

Nancy Hepp, MS Lead Researcher

Reviewer

Gurdev Parmar, ND, FABNO

Co-Founder and Medical Director of Integrated Health Clinic
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Dr. Gurdev Parmar is co-founder and medical director of the largest naturopathic health care facility in Canada, the Integrated Health Clinic (IHC). He is licensed in both British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA.

Dr. Parmar has launched the IHC Research Department with researchers and statisticians now on staff, with publishing patient outcomes on the horizon. He is also the residency director and primary teaching supervisor of a naturopathic oncology residency at IHC, a CNME-approved postdoctoral training facility for Bastyr University.

Dr. Parmar established locoregional hyperthermia treatment in Canada in 2009, and in 2018, he was nominated president of the International Clinical Hyperthermia Society (ICHS). He has served on numerous boards over the years, including an appointment to the OncANP Delphi Panel which has begun building consensus statements for the naturopathic oncology field, the first of which was published in Integrative Cancer Therapies.

Dr. Parmar writes and lectures internationally on a wide variety of topics, including clinical hyperthermia, the tumour microenvironment, and integrative cancer care. He has served on the editorial board of several medical journals and is the lead author and editor-in-chief of the Textbook of Naturopathic Oncology: A Desktop Guide of Integrative Cancer Care, as well as the Pearlz Clinical eBook Series. Dr. Parmar recently published a timely book, Arming the Immune System: The Incredible Power of Natural Immunity & the Fever Response.

Gurdev Parmar, ND, FABNO Co-Founder and Medical Director of Integrated Health Clinic

Last update: November 19, 2024

Last full literature review: August 2024

CancerChoices provides information about integrative in cancer care, a patient-centered approach combining the best of conventional care, self care and evidence-informed complementary care in an integrated plan cancer care. We review complementaryin cancer care, complementary care involves the use of therapies intended to enhance or add to standard conventional treatments; examples include supplements, mind-body approaches such as yoga or psychosocial therapy, and acupuncture therapies and self-care lifestyle actions and behaviors that may impact cancer outcomes; examples include eating health-promoting foods, limiting alcohol, increasing physical activity, and managing stress practices to help patients and professionals explore and integrate the best combination of conventionalthe cancer care offered by conventionally trained physicians and most hospitals; examples are chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy and complementary therapies and practices for each person.

Our staff have no financial conflicts of interest to declare. We receive no funds from any manufacturers or retailers gaining financial profit by promoting or discouraging therapies mentioned on this site.

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