RESUMO
Though many cancer alternative therapies are popular in India, however, few have been accepted by the convention oncology forum to be effective. The metal based Ayurvedic protocol developed by Vaidya Chandra Prakash and later popularised by his son Vaidya Balendu Prakash is one of such cancer alternative therapy. The first successful treatment of a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma patient with bone metastasis was reported in 1960 with an Ayurvedic preparation called Valipani developed by Vaidya Chandra Prakash. Valipani contained processed mercury, sulphur, iron, harar (Terminalia Chebula) along with bhilava (Semecarpus anacardium), amla (Emblica officinalis), ginger and honey, which was primarily given to the patient to strengthen the bone marrow function. However, the results could not be repeated with the new batch of Valipani, may be because of some problems associated with the medicine preparation. Similar situation was also encountered with another metal based preparation called Amar. In 1980s a new metal based formulation called Navjeevan was prepared and it was found to be effective in the treatment of Myeloma and Lymphoma. In 1984 Vaidya Chandra Prakash passed away, it was then Vaidya Balendu Prakash who convinced the medical fraternity to accept his claims. Later, he patented his formulation and also present 13 successfully treated cancer patients for the ‘Best Case Series’ presentation in National Cancer Institute, USA. The evolution of this alternative metal based Ayurvedic therapy for cancer treatment is discussed.