Patient Spotlight- Chloe – A case of oral fibrosarcoma
Many of the patients using the Assisi Portable have orthopedic injuries, diseases that are caused by inflammation (such as arthritis) and neurological or nerve problems. The case of Chloe is unusual in that we do not have data on why the “Loop” would have cured a terminal illness, or how it worked to do so. We make no claims that the Assisi Portable™ PEMF device would have these effects on all patients- but the story was too good not to share. While it has a sad ending, there is great potential for better care and quality of life for all animal patients. The possibility of treating oral fibrosarcoma in dogs with PEMF therapy is something we hope more practitioners look into.
Dr. Burr will tell the story of his patient:
Chloe was a 6-year-old dog diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her mouth in the upper right general arcade on the palate. The tumor was about 4cm and it was really a nasty mess that clearly looked like cancer. The biopsy came back showing an oral malignant fibrosarcoma. That’s really bad in dogs, it’s not a good cancer to have. The client wanted it removed and I agreed with that. I used a laser for the surgery and removed it. I hit it hard trying to make sure we killed the entire tumor. That was in April 2009
By June 2009 when I did the recheck the tumor had come back and was about the size of a silver dollar. The surgery didn’t work. The client was not receptive to any radiation, chemo, anything like that. I mentioned, almost in passing, that I had this Assisi Loop, and according to Dr. Crowe and other veterinarians, it may have some benefit to treat cancers. They were willing to try it and so I gave them the Assisi Loop.
They used it for 10 minutes, twice a day, and the tumor got smaller and kept getting smaller. By April 2010 all that was left was a little lump of tissue that looked completely normal. So in less than 4 months, the tumor had disappeared. I’m completely convinced the Assisi Loop Portable™ had resolved that cancer because I had done nothing else. It’s not the type of cancer that resolves on its own.
Now anytime there’s any peripheral cancer I’m trying to get the patient to use the Loop. I’ve had some cases where it has helped, but no other cases where it has completely resolved the tumor-like this one. I tell people the Loop helps with swelling, pain, and inflammation, which all happen in cancer, so it might help the mass go away. I don’t oversell or make any promises, but I do think it’s a reasonable adjunct therapy for any cancer you need to treat. I’ve used it for mast cells, injection site sarcomas, and as follow up to surgery for melanomas. Again I’ll say in all cases I think it’s helped but hasn’t fully resolved the cancer. It’s only in the case of Chloe that it fully resolved it. Unfortunately, after the use of the Loop was discontinued the cancer did return in Chloe sometime in the following two years.
I can’t tell you exactly when they stopped using the Loop, but they did, and in August 2012 when they came back reporting a foul odor in the mouth, the tumor had come back. We had all gotten comfortable with the idea that the tumor had completely resolved, and none of us felt it necessary to continue the use of the Assisi Portable™ at the time.
After the cancer had returned we started up treatment again hoping the Loop would have the same effect. Unfortunately, it did not, and Chloe eventually succumbed to the disease. I believe if we had kept using the Loop cancer would have resolved and not come back.
You can hear Dr. Burr’s radio interview about Chloe here http://www.wchmradio.com/audio/ahf1.mp3
The Assisi Portable™ PEMF device is not intended as a cancer treatment, however, due to these case studies from Drs. Burr and Crowe, the potential as an adjunct therapy are exciting. To find out more about what the Assisi Loop has shown in clinical studies on pain, inflammation, and wound healing, see our research page.