General Information on Wobenzym Systemic Enzymes

Leading European Oncologist Discusses Systemic Oral Enzyme Therapy & Cancer
Even now in his mid-eighties when he maintains great health and an active lifestyle, Dr. Heinrich Wrba remembers back to another time.
He was forty. It was after the war. One of his children — a daughter, Michaela Siedon — was strickened with leukemia. For two years she fought the disease, but nothing could help, and the treatments themselves were painful and debilitating to the child.

When we met for this interview he stated bluntly, “Chemotherapy killed her.” This from one of Europe’s leading oncologists.
Today with some 200 publications in prestigious medical journals, Dr. Wrba has quietly and permanently changed the way cancer is treated throughout Europe. He has educated a generation of European oncologists on the value of systemic oral enzymes in the treatment of cancer. It hasn’t been easy. And it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. As in America, overcoming widespread negative mythologies has been one of the greatest roadblocks. But amazing things are happening on both continents-suddenly the concept that protease therapy is an important aspect of cancer treatment is catching on in a major way.
In America, the National Cancer Institute is funding a large-scale study on the value of oral enzymes in cancer treatment (see our report in volume 4.3: 10-11, 18), and the Food and Drug Administration has awarded investigational new drug status to a systemic oral enzyme formula. Major advances in cancer therapeutics with enzyme preparations have been made in Europe as well.

Evolution of a Mainstream Doctor
It was some years after the death of his daughter when Dr. Wrba was head of the federally sanctioned Cancer Research Institute in Vienna that he met Dr. Karl Ransberger, a molecular biologist with a doctorate from Fordham University and one of the co-developers with Dr. Max Wolf of modern systemic oral enzyme therapy.
“Dr. Ransberger told me about systemic oral enzyme therapy, but, naturally, being from the academic world, I responded with the ‘school opinion’ that enzymes were large macromolecules that could not be absorbed from the gut. We had all learned that, once ingested, proteins are degraded into amino acids. That was my first objection-and that that was the end of the story as far as I was concerned.”
Still, Dr. Ransberger persisted. He insisted Dr. Wrba take a package of the systemic oral enzyme preparation. “It was not long after that I was in a hunting party and having lunch. A servant woman, knowing I was a doctor, came up to me, hobbling, using a cane. She told me how she suffered terribly from arthritis and could hardly walk or perform her duties. I didn’t know what to do for her. Out of desperation, I gave her the systemic oral enzymes. . . . A few weeks later when I returned, she was doing much better. I was impressed.”
That was when Dr. Wrba contacted Drs. Ransberger and Wolf to learn more about their research into systemic oral enzyme therapy. He quickly came to realize two important facts about oral systemic enzyme therapy:

When designed properly, oral enzymes are actually absorbed into the bloodstream where they are then able to act systemically. This process is called resorption.
Systemic oral enzymes are effective in so many different conditions and types of disease states this leads to disbelief among medical professionals and lay persons alike that they can be of help. This was especially true in the use of enzymes and cancer. “Progress,” says Dr. Wrba, “came much more quickly in all other fields such as vascular disease, rheumatology and hematology-but not for cancer therapeutics. The thinking among oncologists was and has been for so long that a ‘drug’ or, in this case, a natural medicine, without side effects cannot have beneficial effects. It is the age-old concept that a substance must have some poisonous qualities to be of benefit. It took such a long time for a breakthrough.”

From Skeptic to True Believer
In 1965, Dr. Wrba was invited to become Chair of Oncology at the University of Vienna. Throughout his professional work, he has carried the message of oral systemic enzyme therapy to his colleagues. What Dr. Wrba has seen in treating more than one-thousand patients and overseeing countless other cases has convinced him of the utility of systemic oral enzyme therapy in cancer therapeutics. In Germany, systemic oral enzymes are not officially accepted for cancer therapeutics, says Dr. Wrba, yet, in practice, “almost every patient gets them.”

How Systemic Oral Enzymes Help
Dr. Wrba explained how systemic oral enzymes help in the prevention of cancer and in cancer therapeutics. Cancerous or diseased cells are a fact of life, but most of these cells are quickly destroyed by the body’s contingent of white blood cells which form the firewall of the immune system. Other cancerous cells wander aimlessly about via the bloodstream but are so few in number and unable to attach to any tissues that they ultimately die off.
But under detrimental influences such as environmental pollution, tobacco smoke, sunburn, radiation, and environmentally weakened or age-related lapses in immunity, the balance between friend and foe is disrupted. The body is no longer capable of suppressing the cancer cells. When a significant number of cells escape destruction, their capabilities change. Some are capable of adhering to cell walls and begin their “dirty tricks” campaign. Almost seemingly capable of sensing that the body’s immune defenders might recognize them, the cancer cells hide themselves under a thick coat of adhesive fibrin, a coat that is some fifteen times more thick than the fibrin over normal cells. The thickened coat hides away their suspicious markings, including their antigens, from the body’s immune defenders. The cancer cells with their sticky coating can adhere to tissues where they congregate and multiply. To throw the body’s immune cells further off track, the cancerous cells may slough off their antigens. The immune cells immediately attack these harmless proteins but leave the cancerous cells unharmed. It is a type of warfare that could make a military general envious.

The cancer cells grow because of the absence or inadequate presence of enzymes that are capable of stripping the fibrin away from the individual cancer cells. Adequate enzyme activity can lay bare their antigens and so pave the way for their destruction by the body’s immune cells. The more cancer cells the body produces, the more enzymes that are required. At the Austrian Cancer Research Institute at the University of Vienna, Dr. Wrba and his researchers have long been studying the role that systemic oral enzymes play in disrupting cancerous processes. Working with Dr. Lucia Desser, the team discovered that treating cells with enzyme mixtures caused substantial secretions of a chemical called tumor necrosis factor. Tumor necrosis factor or TNF is secreted by immune cells and capable of attacking cancer cells and those cells infected with viruses. It is vital to our body’s cancer defenses.

In general, enzymes are used as complementary therapy in combination with other modes of treatment. Clinical data support their efficacious use in brain tumors; epithelial tumors in the region of the head and neck; lung cancer; malignant melanoma; multiple myeloma; leukemia; T cell lymphomas; stomach and colon cancer; cancerous diseases of the abdomen; pancreatic cancer; and tumors of the cervix, breast and uterus. The benefits extend to life prolongation, quality of life, and improvement in cancer markers.

Dr. Wrba notes that Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), the famous German physician and scientist, had already established a theory at the beginning of the century that the development of cancer is dependent on the results of the “fight” between the tumor cells and the immunological system. “The strength of the immunological system and the particular characteristics of the tumor cells are responsible for the outcome of this conflict,” notes Dr. Wrba. “These characteristics include the malignancy of the tumor or its tendency to metastasize and to penetrate into other tissues, as well as its capability of disguising itself from the immune cells. The recognition of tumor cells by the immunological system is a very difficult procedure. It should not be forgotten that tumor cells differ only insignificantly from that of the healthy cells-a cause for problems with the defensive system. In spite of these difficulties, and according to the knowledge presently available, the health of the immunological system is nonetheless able to recognize and to destroy the great majority of tumor cells.” “As a logical consequence, there are two modes of therapy for the immunological treatment of cancer,” continues the doctor. “Attempts are made both to increase the recognizability of the tumor cells for the immunological system (that is, their immunogenicity) as well as to strengthen and stimulate the various parts of the immunological system. Proteolytic enzymes are able to play a role in both aspects of this therapeutic strategy. They increase immunogenicity of the tumor cells and, at the same time, support the immunological system of patients at various levels.”

Clinical Observations
“Using 20 to 30 tablets twice daily [of Wobenzym®N or similar Mucos Pharma GmbH enzyme mixtures], we see improvement,” Dr. Wrba says. “I have seen about one-third of cases of pancreatic cancer that were completely cured with about two-thirds not responding well, which for this cancer is an excellent outcome. Based on experience, the outcome for most patients is improved with systemic oral enzyme therapy. Enzymes rank as my favorite adjuvant medicine for every type of cancer. It is very essential to take them in very high doses. We can force a beneficial effect at 30 pills three times daily.” Today, in Europe, although enzymes are not necessarily officially part of cancer treatment protocols, Dr. Wrba estimates that about 90 percent of cancer patients are given them or told to take them unofficially. What happened many years ago to his Michaela Siedon could never be changed. But what Dr. Wrba has accomplished since then has changed the course of survival for so many cancer patients.

The Doctor’s Prescription
Everyday Dr. Wrba takes 15 to 20 Wobenzym®N tablets to help reduce his risk for cancer and to take advantage of their overall healthful properties. He advises anyone interested in reducing their cancer risk or in fighting premature aging to use Wobenzym®N systemic oral enzymes. In cancer treatment, work with your doctor, he advises. Dosages of up to 30 pills three times daily may be necessary.

How Systemic Oral Enzymes Modify Tumor Cells & Immune Function to Fight Cancer

Effects on tumor cells
Changes in the coating substances and changes in the cell surfaces (increase in the immunogenicity)
Exposure of the tumor cell antigens (increase in the immunogenicity)
Decrease in the adhesive powers

Effects on the immunological system
Degradation of circulating immune complexes (elimination of “blocking factors” that cancer cells use to hide themselves).
Increase in phagocytosis (complete elimination of the “blocking factors”)
Activation of macrophages and natural killer cells (direct attack against the tumor cells) Secretion of cell messenger substances (TNF,interleukin)
Inhibition of the adhesion molecules important for metastasis
Increase in degradation of fibrin

References
Wrba, H. & Pecher, O. Enzymes: A Drug of the Future. Ecomed Verlagsgesellschaft AG & Co., 1993.

If You’re Undergoing Surgery, Don’t Forget Your Systemic Oral Enzymes
If you’re undergoing surgery, consider working with your doctor and using systemic oral enzymes before and after. Hundreds of published scientific studies and our advisory board’s own clinical experience have shown that enzymes act to quickly reduce inflammation, swelling, and internal bleeding, all of which are extremely important to control following surgery. What’s more, enzymes are extremely safe, especially compared to other anti-inflammatory medical drugs that were designed for this purpose. Most doctors recognize that surgery produces edema, inflammation and excessive fibrinolytic activity, all of which must be treated to insure the patient’s rapid recovery. Because Wobenzyn N provides a comprehensive therapeutic effect in all of these areas of need and without complications, it is considered as pre- and post-operative frontline therapy throughout Europe.

Wobenzym®N has been used successfully throughout Europe for over 20 years in surgery and traumatology, and has been described in numerous published reports and case histories. Among its extremely well documented uses are the prevention and treatment of edema and inflammation in operative dental procedures; proctological operations; surgery to repair fracture of the upper and lower leg; arthroscopic knee surgery; vascular reconstructive surgery of the lower legs; and burns.
In one study, Wobenzym®N was studied for its use in operative dentistry in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Prior to surgical dental intervention, 36 patients were prescribed ten tablets of Wobenzym ®twice daily. In the control group, 44 patients received placebo. This dosage was continued until the seventh postoperative day. None of the test subjects received any preoperative therapy with other anti-inflammatory drugs. By day three, C-reactive protein levels, an indicator of overall inflammation, were threefold lower in the group of patients taking Wobenzym®N.

References
Guggenbichler, J.P. “Einflu hydrolytischer enzyme auf thrombusbildungund thrombolyse.” Die Medizinische Welt, 1988; 39: 277 Klein M.-W., H. Pabst, H. “Die wirkung einer oralen enzymtherapie auf experimentell erzeugete h�matome.” Forum des prakt. Und Allgemeinarztes, 1988; 27: 42. Vinzenz, K. “�dembehandlung bei zahnchirurgischen eingriffen mit hydrolytischen enzymen.” Die Quintessenz, 1991; 7: 1053.

How To Use Wobenzym®N When Undergoing Surgery
Start your use of Wobenzym®N two days before surgery. The recommended dosage of Wobenzym®N before surgery is ten tablets three times a day 30 to 45 minutes before meals. Always inform your physician before beginning use of Wobenzym®N prior to surgery. The only known contraindication for enzyme therapy is in patients who are at risk of post-operative hemorrhage because of blood coagulation deficiency, heavy bleeders, or those who suffer from hyperfibrinolysis or severe liver cirrhosis. However, enzyme therapy can be used before and after most surgeries.