In contrast with spiritual, psychological, or nutritional approaches, quackery and excessive costs are much more common. The theory is that peptides in the blood and in small quantities in the urine have activity against cancer, and some people are deficient in these. Purification of these peptides from the urine of healthy, non-deficient volunteers, and administration of these purified peptides to cancer patients, will improve survival. Antineoplastins are considered species-specific, so animal experimentation is not valid. Therapy holds promise based on the theory and initial studies.
Effectiveness seems to be inversely related to the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
It is hypothesized that the natural product concentrated from urine is more effective than synthetic. A brilliant man with a genuine interest in open, controlled trials of his ideas. Obtained MD and PhD degrees by age 25. Ethical issue of doing research based on patient finances. Burzynski does tell patients whom he does not think that he can help that his therapy is not worth the cost.