Recently, several alternative media and books have touted the anti-cancer virtues of methylene blue. Information which is not only false, but which can also cause serious adverse effects, warns the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT).
Methylene blue is presented in several alternative newspapers and books intended for the general public and relayed by social networks as a miracle cure for cancer. In particular, we will cite the book Bleu de methylene, by Dr Laurent Schwartz, published in October 2024. Laurent Schwartz was a radiotherapist at the AP-HP but, due to his more than questionable practices, he was summoned by the National Council of the Order of Physicians and is dereferenced from the AP-HP website.
The French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT) has decided to take stock of the subject. First of all, she recalls that methylene blue is used to treat methemoglobinemia, a fairly rare blood disorder which causes a lack of oxygen transport, which can cause difficulty breathing, accelerated heart rate and a blue color. of the skin. This disorder can be caused by ingesting poppers or exposure to dyes in a professional setting. Methylene blue is also used as a dye for bacteriological analyzes or to delineate certain tissues during surgical procedures.
-As for the effects of methylene blue on cancer, experimental research has actually shown its action on cultures of ovarian cancer cells. Latest to date: a study, of which the eccentric Dr Laurent Schwartz is co-author, which was published in October 2024 in the journal “International journal of molecular science”. It shows that methylene blue improves the efficiency of mitochondria and disrupts the development of certain ovarian cancer cells. However, the concentration of methylene blue which allows these effects to be observed in vitro is 50 micromoles (µM), or more than ten times the maximum concentration usable in humans. At these doses, taking methylene blue would cause significant neurological risks which make it incompatible with clinical use. Finally, no clinical study (conducted on humans) has shown any benefit linked to this product in cancers, therefore its benefit/risk ratio is unfavorable in this context. Given the state of scientific knowledge, the SFPT recommends “not using methylene blue in the treatment of cancer, and even less to the detriment of treatments currently recognized as effective”.
Methylene blue can cause serious adverse effects in humans. In the global pharmacovigilance database (Vigibase, WHO), there are 63 observations of adverse effects, all in the context of off-label uses, including 9 deaths (14%), 14 cases (22%) with a life-threatening prognosis. and 35 cases (56%) with hospitalization or prolonged hospitalization. We have also observed an increase in the number of cases declared in pharmacovigilance over time, with approximately 40% of cases declared in the last three years. The effects observed are serotonin syndromes (13 cases, 21%), unspecified comas (7 cases, 11%), encephalopathy (7 cases, 11%), hypotension (7 cases, 11%) and acute renal failure (6 cases). , 10%). Around 22% of affected patients were between 18 and 44 years old and 37% between 45 and 64 years old. “These elements raise fears of serious consequences of unreasoned use of this product, outside of international recommendations,” alerts the SFPC.
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