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Lawrence Burton, PhD
Dr Burton received his PhD from NYU in 1955. Even though he was a zoologist, his focus was on cancer. His reputation grew with his research. He went on to publish sixty-five articles in peer review journals and was asked to be the keynote speaker at scientific conferences.
His studies led him to isolate certain naturally occurring factors—proteins in human serum—that cause tumors to grow and tumors to shrink.
These factors are:
- Tumor Antibody (Immunoglobulins: IgA, IgG, and IgM)
- Tumor Complement Factor
- Blocking Protein Factor
- De-blocking Protein Factor
Eventually, after a thorough study of how tumors grew and how they shrunk, Dr Burton was able to take these factors (some from healthy people and some from people with cancer) and create a serum that shrunk tumors.
Here’s how the serum came about. Tumor antibodies are alerted to the presence of tumor cells by a protein produced by the tumor cells called TCF, or Tumor Complement Factor, which induces the tumor antibodies to destroy the tumor cells. Since this can be done in an unregulated manner, the body produces BPF, or Blocking Protein Factors, to shield the tumor cells and regulate the rate of tumor kill. This balance is further regulated by DPF, or de-blocking protein factor, an alpha 2 macroglobulin that neutralizes the blocking protein and permits antibodies to destroy tumor cells in a regulated matter. However, this is a very balanced process and it can be upset by one or two or even all three factors getting out of hand, and when this occurs, the individual is said to be immuno-suppressive or immunodeficient. It is in this state that cancer advances uncontrolled.
One did not need to measure TNF levels to determine the condition of a patients immune system, though TNF is a factor in the serum Burton created to shrink tumors.
Since controlling a tumor’s growth was a matter of balance, Burton designed a computer program that could take a patient’s current blood condition and measure immune system function. This, however, was done in the day prior to micro computers and a huge system was required to make these calculations. Today, one could design a simple machine (not unlike those used by diabetics to read their levels) that could get a thorough reading in a matter of seconds.
Once knowing how the system was imbalanced, Burton could design a serum using the four factors, plus TNF that would shrink the patient’s tumor. Again, it is important to know that he got the factors for his sera (plural of serum) from human blood: TCF is obtained from the serum of persons with cancer; DPF and tumor antibodies are obtained from serum of persons without cancer; the rest can be gotten from either.
Dr Lawrence Burton developed a system that could shrink tumors in the early sixties, long before President Nixon began funding the War on Cancer.
When he published, things got interesting.
He suddenly found funding (The Damon Runyon Fund). The American Cancer Society sent him someone to work with him. The US Public Health Service begins picking up a few tabs. Over the next two years, Dr Burton’s research flourishes, expands, and progresses to the point where he’s able to destroy some tumors over night.
Invited by the American Cancer Society to a national seminar of oncologists, Burton brings along cages of mice all with visible tumors. In front of the esteemed oncologists he injects the mice and the next day, they have no visible tumors.
“Fraud,” some cried out.
Burton offered them to bring in their own mice. He offered them the sera saying, “You inject them”
No one took him up on his offer.
Six months later, in 1966, again under the auspices of the American Cancer Society, Dr Burton appeared before the New York Academy of Sciences and performed a demonstration in front of 70 scientists and 200 science writers. He injected cancerous mice with his serum and in just 45 minutes, the mice’s tumors shrunk 50%. An hour and a half later the tumors had practically disappeared. Newspapers around the world ran the story on their front pages while the prestigious peer journals got their story from an investigator for Sloan-Kettering and Dr Castle from the American Cancer Society.
Then came the contract negotiations. The big wigs, NCI, Sloan-Kettering, American Cancer Society wanted to buy it up from Burton. They’d give him grants and credit for it, but they wanted the rights.
Burton turned them down.
And overnight, Burton became the enemy.
The funding stopped. Invitations to speak vanished. Publications refused to publish. The attacks began.
Burton, nearly broke, had to stop his work. Instead he focused on opening a clinic to cure cancer. It took him a while, but in 1974 he opened a clinic in New York.
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