TREATMENT DATABASE

GcMAF is a naturally occurring substance in the human body which destroys pathogens by activating macrophages. The acronym stands for Gc (a vitamin D binding protein) Macrophage Activating Factor.

In the early 1990s, Dr. Nobuto Yamamoto, director of the Division of Molecular Immunology and Immunotherapy at the Socrates Institute for Therapeutic Immunology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, discovered a substance that inhibited tumor production in mice. Throughout the 1990s Dr. Yamamoto continued his research, expanding it to cases of cancer in humans. But it wasn't until 2008 that Dr. Yamamoto published his groundbreaking study on breast cancer. In this study, weekly injections of GcMAF were given to 16 breast cancer patients. Within three months the tumors were eradicated, with no recurrence over the next four years.

Subsequent studies with GcMAF used for colorectal and prostate cancer yielded similar results. In all cases the tumors disappeared with no recurrence. The rationale behind the success of GcMAF is that when the naturally occurring Gc protein is destroyed by cancer cells (more specifically by an enzyme called nagalase) it hamstrings the immune system's ability to make sufficient tumor-destroying macrophages. The result is an immunosuppressed state which allows the cancer to spread. Injecting GcMAF into cancer patients restores the compromised immune system, which then successfully combats the cancer.

The implications for other immune compromised patients are enormous. In 2009 Dr. Yamamoto published a study demonstrating that after fewer than 18 weekly administrations of GcMAF, HIV infection was also completely eradicated. According to the study, "no recurrence occurred and their healthy CD + cell counts were maintained for 7 years."

USES IN ME/CFS: Several ME/CFS physicians have used GcMAF as an immune modulator for patients who test high in nagalase.

Dr. Kenny De Meirleir treated 108 of his ME/CFS patients with weekly administration of GcMAF. This group of patients showed high amounts of nagalase, which Dr. De Meirleir notes can be produced by intestinal bacterial infections as well as herpes and retroviral infections. (Dr. Chia also points out that nagalase can be elevated as a result of enteroviral infections, which produce small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) leading to subsequent immune system dysregulation.) After an average of 15 weeks of treatment, 68 of the 108 patients reported significant improvement in fatigue, sleep, pain, cognitive impairment, orthostatic intolerance, and digestive disturbances. 

Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids (prednisolone, prednisone, etc.) and NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.) should be avoided while taking GcMAF as these will interfere with the treatment. Morphine analogs (oxycodone, tramadol, etc.), beta blockers, and cytotoxic medications (Sendoxan, Vepesid, Taxol, etc.) should be avoided. Aspartame and carrageenan, two food additives, can also block GcMAF. 

CAUTION: GcMAF is contraidicated for patients with MS.

Treatment rating for GcMAF