Antonio Brú
Antonio Bru Espino is a scientific researcher holding a PhD in Physics and whose present affiliation is the Departamento de Matemáticas Aplicadas of the Science Faculty of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Research on cancer
Dr. Bru is widely known for the controversy sorrounding his groundbreaking research on cancer, including (but not limited to) his major claim that it may be treated with high doses of NEUPOGEN, a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) used in Oncology in order to recover the level of these blood cells after chemotherapy. Such an assertion was made after successfully treating a terminal male hepatic cancer patient and a female Phase IV melanoma patient. Bru purportedly treated these patients with G-CSF, to the avail of an irrefutable tumour remission, and published his favorable results on the male patient in the Journal of Clinical Research(Mayo 2005) 8: 9-13 [1], A major, if not the major, source of controversy among most his detractors, is the low impact factor of this journal.
The theoretical basis on which his hypothesis is couched is derived from mathematical studies concering the fractal growth of tumoral colonies in vitro. Said growth, according to his research, displays a set of distinct characteristics as to patterns, boundary proliferation, etc. Bru and his team described the pattern of growth of these cells -- dubbed by him the Universal Dynamics of Tumour Growth as modelled by a set of equations which, albeit yet another set of controversy among his detractors, have not been contested on mathematical nor biophysical grounds.
The experimental basis on which the use of NEUPOGEN is based is the production of a massive amount of neutrophyles on the verge of the tumour, followed by a massive population on the concanvities thereof and a consequent block of its growth. He has published an amount of research with respect to the topic in Europhysics Letters (2003) [2], in Biophysical Journal (2003) [3] where he expands on his MBE theory, and in Physical Review Letters (2004) [4].
His success on the two cancer patients, the fact that Bru hails from the Universidad Complutense, his collaboration with researchers from the prestigious CSIC and the Hospital Clínico San Carlos de Madrid, and the potentially powerful scientific basis on which he pivoted (in which stochastic differential equations, dynamical systems theory and biophysics were intertwined), could have made his research a breaking news event. Dr. Bru has publicly asked for the possibility of doing clinical trials in order to confirm his results, but this has been impossible to date. It was nearly done in the Ramón y Cajal hospital in Madrid, but there was no consensus due to conditions Bru considered unacceptable, including the evidence of professional and personal animosity from at least one of his assigned would-be coworkers. In June 2007 Bru presented a new clinical experiment proposal to the Fundación Puigvert in Barcelona for prostate cancer, [5] but it was rejected.
Controversy
Concerning outer criticism, Bru expected to confront scientifically consistent arguments; instead, the actual outcome of his research were virulent attacks from the Spanish medical establishment [6], generalized media derision, especially after the ostracism by most of the doctors [7] [8] (the latter answered by Bru himself [9]) sudden and unexpected cancellation of previously scheduled conferences [10] and the utter contempt and lack of interest from the pharmaceutical industry, which Bru and some independent media ascribe to the fear of losing the benefits usually derived from conventional treatments.
The SEOM (Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica) and la AECC (Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer) have been constant in their harsh criticism of the terapeutics proposed by Dr. Bru. Most of the criticism is based on the following arguments:
-- His theory has not been proven in preclinical phase and the number of animals used is below that of the average study. [11]
-- Dr. Bru is a physicist and, according to SEOM officials, clinical reseach in Oncology must be done exclusively by specialized medical personnel.[12]
-- He has published only one case of a patient without biopsy. [13] ,[14]
-- The success on the male hepatic patient was published in a magazine with a low impact factor; such factor, according to SEOM officials, is one of the ways to measure the "scientific quality" of an article.[15]
-- His research has not been sufficiently broadcasted to the bulk of the scientific community in journals, congresses, meetings or social events.[16].
-- A segment of the medical doctors who were collaborating at first with Dr. Bru suddenly terminated their joint work with him, allegedly because of their reticence towards his hypotheses. The loss of these coworkers left Bru with the core team of scientists he had started with.[17]
These criticisms make no reference of the inherent difficulty of:
-- Doing clinical experiments such as the ones demanded by Bru without adverse pressure, whether tacit or express.
-- Measuring the objective quality of an article by sole means of the impact factor of a journal.[18]
-- Publishing results on scientific journals, especially those with a high impact factor, without internal endorsement[19];
-- Broadcasting experiments or results in a congress or meeting withour said experimental results.
Either way, there is no mathematical nor physical journal whatsoever in which cricitism is made, or doubt is cast, on the theoretical premises of Bru's research; all of the criticism comes from the medical community and pivots especially on the lack of a clinical experiment, except from marginal and very specific objections from a Biophysical journal [20],[21].
Dr. Bru's therapy has not been sufficiently developed due to a policy of consistent obstacles from the Spanish oncological community -- obstacles which, according to Bru, could arguably be qualified as a case of corporativism, coupled with outright and systematic mobbing [22], [23], [24].
Bru has repeatedly said that he is willing and able to develop further discussion as long as it is on purely scientific grounds and under independent and authoritative supervision. [25] [26], [27]
Current situation of Bru's research on cancer
The research by Bru's team is in serious risk of becoming stalled due to the obstacles posed by the medical establishment, as well as to the subsequent lack of funding.[28]
References
See also [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]
Compendium of references on tumour growth, since 1955: http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/~pscrooke/CancerModeling.pdf