Homeopathic lab eyes US-funded research link with AIIMS

Kolkata's Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation (PBHRF) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the United States are likely to join hand with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to carry out advanced research in lung cancer.

NCI, a US government organisation, and PBHRF, will meet AIIMS officials on Thursday in New Delhi to initiate the process.

Jeffrey D White, director, Office of Cancer Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, NCI, said the two agencies would seek help from AIIMS in the 'observation' and clinical trial periods.

"PBHRF will work on a batch of 30 patients suffering from lung cancer and their progression will be documented. The entire cost of observation and documentation will be borne by NCI," White added.

NCI has agreed to fund the project, but it would require a go ahead from Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) since a foreign collaboration is involved.

AIIMS is being involved from the start so that it can participate in the clinical trial phase if the observation results are positive after the fixed 2-year tenure.

NCI will appoint contract research organisations (CRO) for the documentation. This would be NCI's first supported research work on use of alternative medicine in lung cancer anywhere in the world.

Pratip Banerjee, deputy managing trustee, PBHRF, said the primary goal of this project was to generate and evaluate evidence for treatment of lung cancer. "If such evidence is identified, our endeavour would be to help lung cancer patients," he said.