stock here: I still can’t get to a level of comfort in using DMSO on my own body.
Hello everyone. My name is Dr. Iggerov. I am a clinical oncologist practicing since 2010 in Russia. Today we are exploring a chemical chameleon of medicine: dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO.
Historically, it has been pigeonholed as two things: an industrial and pharmaceutical solvent, and a cryoprotectant needed to protect cells during freezing so they are not damaged. But modern science reveals a far more complex picture.
DMSO is emerging as a multifunctional agent with three evidence-based roles. Today we will explore the substance as a powerful drug-delivery vehicle, a bidirectional immune modulator, and a differentiation-inducing agent in cancer therapy.
So, let’s start our conversation.
This is a screenshot from a well-known journal, and it shows a randomized trial of topical ascorbic acid, a type of vitamin C, dissolved in DMSO and compared with imiquimod.
Imiquimod is a well-known cream for the treatment of local skin-cancer lesions such as basal cell carcinoma. What does imiquimod do? It attracts the immune system to attack the cancer and is a recognized treatment for many superficial and small basal-cell skin cancers.
The first role of DMSO is as a supreme delivery vehicle, and this has been demonstrated in clinical practice. This is its most established and practical application.
DMSO has a unique chemical structure that allows it to carry other drugs into tissues and let them penetrate deeper.
A 2022 basal-cell carcinoma trial tested 30% vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, in 95% DMSO versus standard imiquimod cream for skin cancer.
The result was that the DMSO-delivered vitamin C solution was more effective. It was almost 90% effective for clearance of these cancers and caused far fewer side effects than the standard treatment.
Critically, it left no hyperpigmented scars. Here, DMSO was considered not to be the drug itself, but rather the enabling technology. It made a high concentration of vitamin C deliverable, effective, and cosmetically superior to standard treatment.
As we know, high concentrations of vitamin C can become not antioxidant, but pro-oxidant. I covered this in lectures on intravenous vitamin C therapy for cancers. There are many clinical trials on this nowadays, especially involving resistant cancers such as pancreatic cancer or cancers with KRAS mutations.
Second, as I already told you, DMSO is an immune modulator, and this is where it gets fascinating.
It does not simply suppress immunity. It fine-tunes it based on concentration.
At low concentrations, less than 2%, it acts as a mild immune stimulant or irritant. Researchers found that it increases the release of histamine. Histamine is associated with allergy, but it is also a protective substance involved in inflammation.
As we know, acute inflammation is one of the body’s protective mechanisms, and this might potentially be harnessed to boost certain immune therapies.
At higher concentrations, above 2%, DMSO acts as a potent anti-inflammatory and immune suppressant. It blocks key inflammatory pathways such as NF-kappa B. This is part of the basis for its FDA-approved use in interstitial cystitis, an inflammatory condition of the bladder.
There is an interesting discovery that high-dose DMSO can reprogram naïve immune cells into regulatory T cells.
In simple words, these cells are the body’s peacemakers. They calm down immunity, allergies, and autoimmune attacks in people who have autoimmune conditions.
This is the basis for preclinical research involving, for example, type 1 diabetes and autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and even psoriasis.
What about cancer treatment?
In one study, an intravenous infusion regimen used a mixture of DMSO and sodium bicarbonate. The dosage was 500 milliliters of 40% DMSO infused intravenously.
The frequency was once daily for seven consecutive days, followed by a seven-day break, and this was repeated in cycles. In other words, one week of infusions followed by one week without infusions.
These were patients with very advanced, highly resistant cancers of the bile ducts.
The study reported reductions in pain and jaundice, meaning yellowing of the skin, as well as improved quality of life in these very advanced-stage patients.
There are some critical safety issues with this because we know that concentrations above 30%, when infused intravenously, carry a significant risk of hemolysis, meaning rupture of red blood cells due to high osmotic pressure.
The 40% concentration used in this trial was at the upper limit of what is often considered tolerable. This is, of course, a high-risk protocol requiring very careful medical supervision and monitoring for hemolysis, renal function, and other side effects such as nausea.
These IV DMSO protocols are still highly experimental, are not standardized, and should only be performed in clinical trials or clinical research centers.
I also told you that DMSO is considered a differentiation-induction agent in cancer therapy.
What does that mean?
Our normal cells are differentiated, meaning they have their own structure and function. They are highly beneficial for our body and do what they are supposed to do.
Cancer cells become less differentiated. They become more evolutionarily primitive, stop performing their normal functions, and stop obeying the body’s central mechanisms of regulation.
We want to make these cancer cells more differentiated so they are not as aggressive and become more like normal human cells.
One direction of oncology research today is differentiation therapy. Cancer cells can be immature, rapidly dividing, and nonspecialized, unlike our normal cells.
We try to use drugs to re-educate these cancer cells, forcing them to mature into more harmless cells that stop dividing.
The classic example is all-trans retinoic acid in the treatment of acute leukemia, where it can help cure this form of leukemia.
In a 2023 review, researchers compiled decades of laboratory research showing DMSO as a differentiation inducer.
For example, DMSO can force leukemic cells to mature into normally appearing neutrophil-like cells, causing them to lose their ability to proliferate, grow, and divide, thereby slowing or stopping the growth of the tumor.
It appears to work in part by upregulating tumor-suppressor genes in these cells.
That was leukemia. What about solid tumors and cancers such as sarcomas?
Studies show that DMSO can induce differentiation markers in lung cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, and sarcomas.
So DMSO is potentially a useful and inexpensive adjuvant to sensitize cancer cells to other treatments, help slow their growth, and potentially make them more vulnerable to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or immunotherapy.
I also mentioned interstitial cystitis, or painful bladder syndrome, for which DMSO is approved.
The formulation is a 50% DMSO solution in water called RIMSO-50.
It is introduced into the bladder through a catheter. Usually, 50 milliliters is instilled into the bladder for 15 to 30 minutes before the patient voids.
Treatment is usually performed once every one to two weeks for approximately two months, and sometimes maintenance therapy is needed.
What about safety and critical caveats?
This is not a recommendation for self-treatment.
Purity is non-negotiable. Only pharmaceutical-grade DMSO should be used medically. Industrial-grade DMSO can contain contaminants and may be dangerous.
What about side effects?
DMSO commonly produces a garlic-like smell or taste. It can cause skin irritation at high concentrations, and when high concentrations are injected intravenously, it can cause rupture of red blood cells.
There is also the generic-compound problem.
DMSO is old, inexpensive, and non-patentable. That creates a major financial disincentive for large pharmaceutical companies to fund the large-scale clinical trials needed to prove its efficacy as a primary adjuvant for cancer treatment.
That is one reason why it is not part of standard oncology protocols today.
What has been demonstrated in humans is primarily its usefulness as a drug-delivery vehicle.
There is also compelling preclinical evidence that it acts as an immune modulator and may potentially be part of differentiation therapy, but we still need large clinical trials to prove its efficacy in cancer treatment, determine the proper doses, and identify which cancers may respond best.
A few words about additional side effects and oral use.
One commonly reported effect is a garlic-like mouth taste.
There have also been clinical trials involving inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In these studies, oral DMSO formulations containing 500 milligrams of DMSO were taken four times per day, and the studies reported a decrease in relapse rates.
I also want to underline that there are unofficial oncology protocols found on the internet that recommend taking DMSO orally.
Some suggest putting four drops of pharmaceutical-purity DMSO into water and drinking it, gradually increasing the amount to ten drops per intake as tolerated, or approximately 40 drops per day.
However, it can cause allergic reactions, stomach irritation, and discomfort in some people.
Again, oral DMSO cannot currently be recommended for cancer management because there have not been adequate clinical trials establishing its effectiveness and safety for this purpose.
That is why, officially, we cannot recommend it as oncologists.
Thanks for watching, and thank you for supporting this channel. My name is Dr. Iggerov. If you like this video, subscribe, and I will see you in the next series.
Have a good day and goodbye.