Ukrain (; also called celandine) is the trademarked name of a

semi-synthetic Semisynthesis, or partial chemical synthesis, is a type of chemical synthesis that uses chemical compounds isolated from natural sources (such as microbial cell cultures or plant material) as the starting materials to produce novel compounds wit ...

substance derived from the plant ''

Chelidonium majus ''Chelidonium majus'', the greater celandine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. One of two species in the genus '' Chelidonium'', it is native to Europe and western Asia and introduced widely in North Am ...

'' and promoted as a drug to treat

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and viral infections, including

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

. It was created in 1978, by the famed Ukrainian chemist (). Ukrain is named after the nation of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and is produced by the Austrian company Nowicky Pharma. According to the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

and the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...

, there is no evidence that Ukrain is an effective cancer treatment.

Evidence

In 2005,

Edzard Ernst Edzard Ernst (born 30 January 1948) is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, the wo ...

led a review into evidence of the effectiveness of Ukrain. Although the review found evidence suggesting the drug was effective, it also concluded that "numerous caveats prevent a positive conclusion". Commenting on the review some years later, Ernst wrote on his blog that the results they were examining had seemed "too good to be true" – and on investigation the trials were very small in size, often seemed to include Novytskyi himself, and had significant methodological flaws. However, despite the cautious conclusion given, "this article became much cited. ... ovytskyimust have been delighted". The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center says that

clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

have yet to prove safety and effectiveness of Ukrain. The American Cancer Society stated that, as of 2013, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that celandine is effective in treating cancer in humans". It may however be responsible for some adverse side-effects including

and allergic skin reactions.

Legal incidents

Ukrain is not approved by the US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

. On September 4, 2012, several people including Vasyl Novytskyi, the drug's developer, were arrested in Austria for distributing the drug under suspicion of commercial fraud. Novytskyi appeared in Vienna regional court again in January 2015 for selling Ukrain, earning an estimated 1.1 million euros through fraud by changing labels on expired vials. In March 2015, two co-defendants of Novytskyi were exonerated for commercial fraud, while legal proceedings continue for Novytskyi. From October 2013 to April 2014, a licensed

naturopath Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...

in Tucson, Arizona, Michael Uzick, was using Ukrain in his practice to treat cancer patients. He was reported to the Arizona authorities by

Britt Marie Hermes Britt Marie Hermes (; born 1984) is an American former naturopathic doctor who became a critic of naturopathy and alternative medicine. She is the author of a blog, ''Naturopathic Diaries'', where she writes about being trained and having pract ...

, who discovered while working for Uzick that the unapproved drug was being imported. Uzick was given a letter of reprimand by the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

The official site from Nowicky Pharma about the drug Ukrain

CAM-Cancer information page on Ukrain
Alternative cancer treatments Health fraud products Patent medicines Pharmaceutics Ukrainian inventions Organophosphoric amides

Evidence

Legal incidents

See also

References

External links