Overview

• The Gonzalez regimen, developed by Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, involves taking pancreatic enzymes thought to have anticancer activity. The regimen also includes prescribed diets, nutritional supplements, and coffee enemas (see Question 1).

• The Gonzalez regimen is based on the theory that pancreatic enzymes help the body get rid of toxins (harmful substances) that lead to cancer (see Question 3).

• A few studies have examined the effect of pancreatic enzymes in animals with implanted cancers, but it is not possible to test many other parts of the Gonzalez regimen this way. (see Question 5).

• In an early small study of Dr. Gonzalez's patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, he reported that patients on his regimen lived longer than most people with the same type of cancer (see Question 6).

• A later nonrandomized, controlled clinical trial compared the effectiveness of standard treatment with that of the Gonzalez regimen in patients whose pancreatic cancer could not be removed by surgery. Patients treated with standard chemotherapy survived an average of 14 months and patients treated with the Gonzalez regimen survived only an average of 4.3 months. In addition, patients treated with chemotherapy reported a better quality of life than those treated with the Gonzalez regimen (see Question 6).

• The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved the Gonzalez regimen or any of its components as a cancer treatment (see Question 8).