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DCA is an organic compound, and a byproduct of TCE (trichloroethylene), a chemical that has been a concern in the development of cancer. In January 2007, researchers at the University of Alberta published a study in the journal Cancer Cell suggesting that DCA showed promise in shrinking tumors in lab rats as well as inhibiting growth of cultured human cancer cells. They hypothesized that DCA may be able to change cancer cells back to normal ones by switching them from the aberrant energy pathways they rely on to those used by normal cells.

You may have seen articles in the news about a drug called DCA (dichloroacetate), that is claimed to be cheap, safe and "kill most cancers". Understandably this has caused a great deal of interest, especially as DCA is an off-patent drug and appears to be non-toxic to humans. DCA has now been approved for a trial in brain cancer patients in Canada. The researchers have raised $800,000 in public donations to fund the trial

A mitochondria-K+ channel axis is suppressed in cancer and its normalization promotes apoptosis and inhibits cancer growth. Bonnet S, Archer SL, Allalunis-Turner J, Haromy A, Beaulieu C, Thompson R, Lee CT, Lopaschuk GD, Puttagunta L, Bonnet S, Harry G, Hashimoto K, Porter CJ, Andrade MA, Thebaud B, Michelakis ED. Cancer Cell. 2007 Jan;11(1):37-51. PMID: 17222789 doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2006.10.020

DCA is an odourless, colourless, inexpensive, relatively non-toxic, small molecule. And researchers at the University of Alberta believe it may soon be used as an effective treatment for many forms of cancer.