UP docs, inventor top int’l research contest

The amazing anti-cancer cream, the DeBCC, developed and studied by innovative PGH doctors, in partnership with a famous inventor, again won the top prize in an international clinical congress in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

During the 93rd Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the world’s largest convention for surgeons of all specialties, 275 research entries from all over the world were accepted for scientific exhibition.

With a total attendance of more than 15,000 doctors, including other health professionals, scientific and industrial exhibitors, as well as members of the press and invited international guests, the ACS has been the most prestigious forum for presentation of research and innovations in surgical treatment in the world.

The Philippine entry presenting the DeBCC, an innovative topical cream to treat the most common type of skin cancer, Basal Cell Carcinoma, authored by Drs. Eric Talens, Daniel de la Paz, Orlando Ocampo, Porfirio Tica, and the late Horacio Estradato, together with world-class inventor Rolando de la Cruz, was initially chosen as one of 11 “Posters of Exceptional Merit” at the start of the meeting.

These selected researches were then presented orally in a forum for the scrutiny of the board of judges chaired by world-famous Dr. Barbara Bass, a respected cancer surgeon.

After an impressive presentation, this Philippine entry was voted the “Best Scientific Exhibit” for 2007.

It was only two years ago when Talens presented the clinical trial of his group to launch the DeBCC, a cream formulated from the extract of cashew nuts, as a treatment option in the management of Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), the most common type of skin cancer in the world.

De la Cruz envisioned this cream to be the “silver bullet” to beat skin cancer.

The DeBCC previously garnered two international gold medal awards, the first from the Archimedes Inventors’ Show in Moscow, Russia last March 2005, and the second one from the IENA International Inventors’ Forum in Nuremburg, Germany on Nov. 3, 2005.

The same invention also got the highest score from a panel of international judges, and was awarded the top World Invention Winner – Diamond Award and the Overall Inventors’ Award for 2006 in the British Invention Show on Oct. 21, 2006 in London.

In support of the mission of the Philippine General Hospital, the UP College of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers from the university have sought alternative treatments for common ailments that could offer more cost-effective local options, with the ultimate objective of improving healthcare in the Philippines.

The DeBCC has been presented as a viable option to the usual surgical treatment of this type of skin cancer.