Raena Morgan: Hi, I'm Raena Morgan with iHealthTube. We've been visiting with Dr. Katz, and we want to talk about this exciting clinical study that you have going on where it's a PIN Prevention Protocol?
Dr. Aaron Katz: Yes. So much of our healthcare is focused on cancer treatment, and we've had very little on cancer prevention. And as we were mentioning, prostate cancer which is the number one cancer in men right now, is a major health concern in the United States.
What we've taken on at Columbia I think is the first herbal approach to prostate cancer prevention. We've done an extensive amount of research in our laboratory at Columbia University on Zyflamend containing the herbs that we mentioned, ginger and turmeric and holy basil and oregano and green tea.
Raena Morgan: And skullcap.
Dr. Aaron Katz: And skullcap, and resveratrol, all of the things that may play a role in this blockage of inflammation and cancer development.
Raena Morgan: And the PIN would be the stage before full-blown cancer, right?
Dr. Aaron Katz: That's correct. I mean, so what we've decided to do is look at men that have already had a biopsy because of a likely elevation in PSA. Their biopsy again doesn't show cancer, but there are warning signs in the biopsy that cancer is likely to develop in the near future, and that condition is called PIN.
And treat these men in a dose escalation trial where we have given them Zyflamend as well as other products that are in the Zyflamend like turmeric force like the multi-vitamin, and to try and prevent cancer development, and by documenting this by not only by repeating their PSAs every 3 months, for 18 months, but also repeating their prostate biopsies every 6 months for up to 18 months.
Raena Morgan: How is the trial evolving?
Dr. Aaron Katz: Well, the trial right now is finished.
Raena Morgan: It's finished?
Dr. Aaron Katz: And it is one of the fastest trials that we were able to accrue our patients on. I think that again as a sign of the changing times right now that men are trying to incorporate some of these lifestyle changes and supplements into their lifestyle, into their diet, to try and block cancer.
Frankly right now, if you have PIN and you see a urologist, there's no other treatment for this condition. The only thing that urologist would tell you to do would be probably to repeat a prostate biopsy. We've taken on a more active approach; we've taken on a compound that has shown efficacy in the laboratory, that appears to work very well for our patients and initiated this clinical trial.
Raena Morgan: So this is all very natural, these ingredients that are in Zyflamend?
Dr. Aaron Katz: Yes. The Zyflamend which is manufactured by a company in Brattleboro, Vermont, New Chapter, takes the herbs from the ground and super critically extracts them without using any of the solvents that some of the other companies use which can degrade the biological activity. Because, it's not only the herbs, but it's how the herbs are extracted. This is done in a more gentle, and more natural way.
Raena Morgan: Thank you Dr. Katz.
Dr. Aaron Katz: You're welcome.
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