Anvisa orders suspension of advertising for phosphoethanolamine.

Da HealthBrazilians - The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) ordered earlier this week that advertising for synthetic phosphoethanolamine be removed from the internet. According to the researchers who developed it, the substance combats cancer. Tests on people with cancer are underway. 

Despite the suspension, as of Friday, February 24th, the websites remained online and it was possible to fill out a form to reserve the product while it was still unavailable. 

In a statement released on Tuesday (21), Anvisa informed that health legislation does not allow a food supplement to claim therapeutic properties. However, the websites of Newlife Health Company and Quality Medical Line attribute medicinal qualities to the product. Both companies will manufacture the product in laboratories in the United States. On the New Life website, posted reports state that the company owners are Brazilian.  

The agency also said that it had not received any requests to register the substance as a medicine or food supplement for sale or manufacture in Brazil.

The supplement is also sold in England and the United States in combination with minerals such as calcium and magnesium. One such product is known as Calcium EAP.

Controversial substance

In an interview, clinical oncologist Helano Freitas, Clinical Research Coordinator at ACCamargo Cancer Center, discusses phosphoethanolamine as a dietary supplement and the risks of interrupting conventional treatment.

Phosphoethanolamine will be sold as a dietary supplement online. What are your thoughts on this situation?  
It is strange that a substance that until recently was touted for its supposed benefits in cancer treatment is now being marketed as a dietary supplement. By definition, dietary supplements have no therapeutic purpose. Therefore, the strategy of marketing phosphoethanolamine as a supplement clearly aims to circumvent the health regulations of Anvisa (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency), since the substance does not meet the necessary requirements to be registered as a medicine. 

What were the conclusions of the studies conducted in Brazil on the substance? 

The results of studies in humans have not yet been published. The lead researcher, Dr. Paulo Hoff, stated in a recent interview that there was no short-term toxicity for patients, but we still don't know about the long-term effects or what dose should be used for therapeutic purposes. Everything regarding this substance is entirely empirical.

Could the use of phosphoethanolamine as a complementary medicine be harmful to people undergoing conventional treatment?

There's no way to know without clinical studies.

What are the risks of long-term use by cancer patients? 

It is unknown. With the exception of the ongoing study, to date there does not appear to have been a systematic record of safety and efficacy data in patients who supposedly received the substance for long periods. But there is a real risk of people self-medicating without medical supervision. There is even a risk of them abandoning their treatments to use phosphoethanolamine without medical supervision, as supplements are sold freely.

The main problem surrounding phosphoethanolamine is the promotion of hope for a cure without any scientific basis to date. It would be good if it were true, but if the substance's effects were as good as has been disseminated without corroborating studies, the question remains: Why didn't the developers invest in studies and instead decided to distribute the substance indiscriminately? And why have they now decided to market it at any cost, no longer for therapeutic purposes, but as a supplement?