Laetrile
(ˈleɪtraɪl, -rɪl)
Also laetrile.
[f. læ(vo-rotatory adj. s.v. lævo-, levo- + nitrile.]
A proprietary name for a substance that has been used in the treatment of cancer with controversial results and is identical with or related to amygdalin.
No longer proprietary in the U.S.
| 1953 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 31 Mar. 1159/1 John Beard Memorial Foundation, San Francisco, Calif. Filed July 8, 1952. Laetrile. For treatment of disorders from intestinal fermentation. Claims use since June 2, 1952. 1953 Calif. Med. Apr. 320/1 The term Laetrile is derived from the fact that the chemical is a laevo-rotary-nitrile. It is claimed that this type of therapy was first used in human cancer by Ernst T. Krebs, Sr.,..when ‘substantial clinical results’ were obtained from the use of a beta-cyanogenetic glucoside named amygdalin. Ibid. 326/1 In two independent studies..Laetrile has been completely ineffective..on cancer in laboratory animals. 1957 Jrnl. Philippine Med. Assoc. XXXIII. 18/1 We instituted Laetrile therapy... After the first injection of Laetrile the patient slept better. 1963 Rep. Calif. Cancer Advisory Council: Beta-Cyanogenetic Glucosides (Laetriles) 1 As used in this report Laetrile refers solely to amygdalin, a beta-cyanogenetic (cyanogenic) glucoside, commonly extracted from apricot pits, with or without the addition of dispropyl ammonium iodide. 1967 Los Angeles Times 11 Dec. 3/2 She first began taking Laetrile injections in Montreal in 1962... ‘It was Laetrile that saved my life.’ 1976 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 13 Sept. 1286/3 Laetrile, no longer claimed to be a ‘magic bullet’ that destroys cancer cells with cyanide, has become transmuted into the fake ‘vitamin B17’. 1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) xxiv. 54/2, I haven't got cancer. So never mind the Laetrile, okay? 1981 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. (ed. 2) xxx. 590 The FDA..continues to oppose laetrile legalization because, contrary to the claims of its proponents: it is not completely nontoxic; it has not been proven to be effective in preventing or treating cancer; and there is no basis for the claim that it is a vitamin that plays an essential role in human nutrition. 1983 Trade Marks Jrnl. 27 Apr. 764/2 Laetrile... Pharmaceutical substances. Dipix Distributions Limited, Gusta Lodge, Worth, Deal, Kent. |