Please see all Artemisinin articles for
information published after this article was written.
We often hear about using artemisinin to treat dog cancer, and thanks to the following contribution by Tripawds member AngelAbby’sMom (aka Jackie Bouchard, author of the novel “What the Dog Ate”), we have some reading material for pawrents who want to learn about this holistic cancer therapy.
Many thanks to Jackie for this excellent summary of what she has learned about artemisinin. Please remember, we are not veterinarians and this article is not meant to replace veterinary care for your Tripawd.
Finally, we welcome blog posts from members so if you would like to share your experiences in caring for a Tripawd family member, please contact us today.
Artemisinin Basics
If you’ve been around Tripawds for a while, you’ve probably seen me mentioning artemisinin to pawrents that want to go the holistic route or are looking for supplements to try.
This post puts what I have learned about artemisinin into one handy spot for future reference.
The information I have from Dr. Singh is from my own email correspondence with him (he’s super helpful that way!) and from a list of questions sent to him by the Yahoo Group “artemisinin_and_cancer” which I used to be a member of. I highly recommend joining the group if you want to learn more.
Let me start out by saying I’m not a vet. And I’m not even close to being a scientist. Most of what’s below is taken from my own personal use of artemisinin with my dog, Abby, and from Dr. Singh, a researcher at University of Washington. Dr. Lai and Dr. Singh are two experts on the use of artemisinin for fighting cancer in dogs, having studied the herb since the 1990s.
What is Artemisinin and Where Do I Get It?
Artemisinin, also known as Qinghaosu, is derived from the herb Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood. It’s been used for hundreds of years in China to fight malaria. This long history of use means it is known to have low toxicity, at least in human use.
Discussions can get a little confusing because there are two different options for utilizing it:
Option 1: Artemix
A blend of 3 derivations of the herb; it contains artesunate (50mg), artemisinin (50mg) and artemether (40mg). Dr. Singh recommends purchasing Artemix from Hepalin.com and he notes that artesunate and artemisinin are both very safe, therefore dosing should be based on the artemether. (See below.) Dr. Singh suggests using Artemix to fight cancer, since it’s best to have the various derivations of the herb working together in the system.
Option 2: Artemisinin
This is just pure artemisinin and can be purchased in either 50mg or 100mg pills. Dr. Singh recommends Holley Pharmaceuticals for buying pure artemisinin. Because artemisinin is considered to be safe, you can supplement Artemix with additional plain artemisinin. This is what we did with Abby.
Note that Hepalin and Holley Pharma are the only companies recommended because they produce pharmaceutical grade pills which are 99% pure.
For ease of discussion I’ll refer simply to artemisinin from here on out, and will specify if referring to Artemix.
How Does Artemisinin Work?
Studies performed in vitro (basically outside the cell in a test tube) show that the artemisinin kills cancer cells. There is also some data from in vivo testing (within the cell, or tested in humans/animals), but I don’t want to turn this into a review of the scientific literature, so we’ll stick to the basics from Dr. Singh.
Cancer cells require much more iron to multiply than normal cells do. Artemisinin attacks the iron, and since normal cells don’t have as much iron, they are “safe” from the attack. Dr. Singh and Dr. Lai research the use of artemisinin for many types of cancer: bone cancer, mast cells, breast cancer, etc. They state that there is still much research to be done.
How do I Dose Artemisinin?
This gets a little tricky. Because of the iron-attack-mode that artemisinin goes into, you have to give it away from any iron-containing foods, which would be most diets that cancer pups are on due to the high protein content. Therefore you must give the artemisinin about 3-4 hours after dinner.
We also avoided giving meaty/high protein treats at night while Abby was on the artemisinin. Since artemisinin should be given with some form of whole-milk, such as cottage cheese, Abby’s pills—hidden in full-fat cream cheese—became her nightly treat. She found this very enjoyable.
The other thing that is tricky is that if you do some research on the internet, you’ll find varying advice as to dosage/frequency. For example, some recommend cycling on/off the drug for varying amounts of time, say 5 days on/5 days off. The dose/administration below is as per Dr. Singh, and from what I’ve seen his dosage recommendation is at the lower end of the spectrum. I’d suggest if you want to try artemisinin with your pup, you can start with Dr. Singh’s guidelines here and also do some additional research and adjust as you see fit.
Please consult your vet regarding dosage of any supplements.
This guest post is authored by an end user, not a veterinarian. Neither the content herein, nor any comments provided should be construed as medical advice.
Calculating the Dose
As I mentioned above, Dr. Singh thinks Artemix is the better option for fighting cancer, and dosing is based on the artemether.
Calculate the dose based on 1 to 2mg of artemether/lb of body weight. So, if your dog weighs 80 lbs, and Artemix has 40mg artemether, that’s 2 to 4 capsules per day.
Again, plain artemisinin is considered very safe, so you can supplement the Artemix dose with additional plain artemisinin if you want. This is what I did with Abby (47lbs), giving her two Artemix per day, plus 100mg of plain artemisinin. The cost was ~$150/month when she was on it daily.
Dr. Singh suggests giving the pills every day for 8 weeks, with an x-ray or some other evaluation done at the beginning of the period and again at the end to see if it is helping. If so, you can go to every other day at that point.
With Abby we had an x-ray done at 12 weeks. One lung met was slightly smaller, the other was about 20% larger. No new mets developed over the 12 weeks. Although the results were mixed, we hoped for the best and continued on with pills every other day.
What Else Should be Given with Artemisinin?
Dr. Singh recommends also giving butyrate and vitamin D-3 at the same time as the artemisinin. Butyrate is available as Butyrex from Holley Pharmaceuticals or Dr. Singh also recommends Jigsaw Health.
Dr. Singh did not recommend a specific dose for the Vitamin D-3, but did recommend that an 80lb. dog can be given 4 capsules of butyrate.
We gave Abby (47lbs) 2 butyrate and she did not enjoy them as they are horribly stinky and even the cream cheese couldn’t mask the odor. If you give the Butyrex, you are going to want to hold your nose while you open the bottle!
Other Recommendations
- Dr. Singh recommends giving your dog Vitamins C (500mg/day) and E (400mg/day) while on artemisinin. The C & E, as well as any other immune-boosting/antioxidant supplements, should be given at breakfast/lunch; well away from the nighttime artemisinin dose.
- Dr. Singh recommends dogs with clear lung x-rays can be on artemisinin indefinitely, although he states that you can eventually go to every other day and down to twice a week at some point. (No timeline was given).
My question is, are there any other brands that anyone has tried. Price can be an object for people, and the cost varies. I read one brand which said they got their arteminisin from Holly, but it is arteminisin only.
How is Abby now? Forgive me if I missed reading this.
Hi Tory, thanks for reading. Sadly, Abby is an angel now, but she really kicked cancer’s butt when she was earthbound. As for looking for cheaper prices on artemisinin, I would be very careful on letting the price point be a deciding factor since so many scary ingredients are coming from China. Always choose brands that are recommended by veterinarians. Good luck.
Came across Abby’s story with interest. We agree with all of her Artemix protocol. Have observed many dogs using a similar doseage, and we have found Drs Singh and Lai to be very helpful with any questions on their considerable research. We have also found the Artemix from Hepalin, and Butyrex and Artemisinin from Holley to be of the quality stated in this article.
Thanks for sharing your experience Sue, we appreciate hearing about it.
I read a different dosing from Dr. Dessler and on other sites it gives a dosage of Artemix as 1mg/kg which would mean a 1/2mg/lb. Our dog was just diagnosed with lymphoma he is 10.5 years old and about 84lbs.
Greg, I would definitely find a holistic vet who is knowledgeable to help you find the right dosage for your pup. Recommendations vary so it’s always good to find a vet who knows your dog’s exact situation. Best wishes to you and your pup.
Greg and jerry, Re doseage
We have been helping dogs with cancer for about 16 years, and have found it difficult to find holistic vets who use or have an understanding on the doseage with Artemisinin/Artemix. Because Professors Singh and Lai are the senior researchers in this area, we find it safe to follow their guidelines. Most of the suggestions by Dr Dressler seem to mention Artemisinin, which seems to have very high dose tolerance ( One study demonstrated 200 times the recommended dose to be safely tolerated) We have found other supps like K9 Immunity, Transfer Factor, Pet Alive C Caps and a seaweed extract called Fucoidan to be helpful with Lymphoma.
Hope this helps
Sue and George, thanks for your helpful feedback. Please contact me via our contact form, I’d love to hear more about your expertise. Thanks!
Help please. My GSD has been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma which was found in a routine anal sac clean. The vet said it was as big as his finger. My dog has had diarrhoea for nearly two years and Cushing’s was diagnosed. Vet says he thinks there is damage in her intestines hence the diarrhoea which has nothing to do with the Cushing’s which is under control. Then he found the adenocarcinoma. I am going to follow the protocol in the above article, but living in the UK I have bought the Artemisinin from Amazon but it is not the one mentioned above. I only found one supplier of Butyrate in England so have ordered that just now. Can anyone give me the exact dosage of Butyrate please. She weighs 82 pounds. Also any hope please. My vet says there is nothing to be done and it will kill her. She is nearly eleven years old. We don’t know how long she has had this cancer but as I said she has had diarrhoea for nearly two years. Nothing has really helped with this apart from Canigest which I can’t afford long term. Tests show even though she has diarrhoea she is absorbing nutrients properly. Many thanks to anyone who can help.
Clare, we are so sorry to hear about your pup. I apologize, we don’t know the dosage but highly recommend seeing a holistic-minded veterinarian for another opinion and also joining the Yahooo Artemisinin group mentioned in this article, those folks there will have some tips for you. Best wishes to you and your pup.
I was so happy to find this article! My 12 y.o. English Shepherd has sternal osteosarcoma. I began giving him artemisinin recently, *just* got Artemix as well and was very confused about the protocol for using them together. This helped me enormously; thanks so much!
Two questions: First, it sounds like you gave Abby two Artemix tablets (along with the artemisinin) at once, in her after dinner dose…is that correct?
Secondly…what does the Butyrex do, exactly? Looks like it would help prevent gastric distress…does it help or enhance the absorption of the Artemix/Artemisinin as well?
Thanks for a really, really great guide to using these supplements, Jerry!
Thanks for the comment Laurie! Consider posting in the forums if you receive no replies here.
Laurie
Following Prof. Singhs advice we have found Artemix most suitable for use with dogs, most particularly because of the longer half life of one of the derivatives ie 12 hrs. (Artemisinin only has a 4 hr half life) You can add as many Artemisinin to the Artemix as you like (up to a point) as it has been tested at up to 200 times the recommended dosage. We have often found Artemisinin quite helpful in topical applications direct on open tumors.
Prof Singh and Lai research article in “Anticancer Research” found that besides the beneficial role of butyrate as a digestive and anti inflammatory agent, they found that “Using a combination of artemisinin and butyrate significantly enhanced the effect of either ingredient alone.”…….and….
Butyric acid increases potency of artemisinin by 5-10 times
In a conversation with Prof Singh, he suggested that Artemix, with its 2 derivatives and especially with Butyrex may offset the assimilation/plateauing issues of using just Artemisinin.
Hope this helps
Hi there. I feel so luckyk to have found this information. I have a 9 year black lab named Flash and he has osteosarcoma in his back left leg. I came across artemisinin and have just ordered it. I also ordered the artemix and plan to use both together. Iam thinking 100 mg of the artemisinin 2 x a day is correct as well as 3 pills of the artemix 2 x a day. If someone knows if that is ok if they could let me know. Iam excited to see how this will work for my dog. He has never had any medical issue and to have this is mind boggeling. I will keep everyone posted as to how flash is doing. Thanks for your comments. help.input….it trally helps.
The dosage is so difficult. My little Odis, 18# cairn terrier, was diagnosed with axial osterosarcoma, nasty fast growing and in operable as it’s on his skull. This being mainly a “large breed” disease, no one is dealing with dosages for the little guys. It has been 4 weeks since the 1st sign of it and since the CT scan 2 weeks ago the doctors have not been very optimistic that he will live more than 12 weeks. Chemo and radiation are not viable options per the oncologist. Gotta do something!! Any recommendations?
Consider searching/posting in the forums Paula, where you will likely get much more feedback than here in these blog comments. Also check out Apocaps or other recommendations by Dr. Dressler.
I have an almost 14 year old cat with large dime sized bloody squamous call carcinoma on her nose. Its been untreated for closer to 2 years. Would you apply artemisinin topically and internally? What dosage? Would you dilute it in DMSO? I have read the article on Tabby the cat but have a few more questions.
Best wishes with your kitty Jennifer! Please consult with your vet and consider posting in our Ask A Vet Forum where you may receive better feedback.
Hi! I really need some help. My baby (dog) who is almost 10 years old has been said to have Lympoha we think its in the GI. We had a polyp removed last week and just got the sad news that it is very rare and it is a high cell fast growing tumor that was found in her rectum. She only weighs 4 1/2 lbs. She is so small. How much should I give? I’m not sure how to do it because I’m reading that it was used on larger dogs. And which one would you give?
Please help!
Hello Haley,
We’re sorry to hear about your pup. Not being experts with artemisinin we are not the best ones to advise on dosage. Check out our resources page which features a link to a directory of holistic vets in the U.S. and try to locate one near you to help guide you in treating your pup: http://tripawds.com/resources/ Best wishes to you both, may you have lots of good days and years ahead.
I just started my 4 year old Neo Mastiff on Artemisinin. She was just diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Depending on her lameness, I will allow 2 – 4 weeks before scheduling a surgical biopsy & further ex-rays. My dosage started at 200mg and has increased gradually to 400mg per day. We are also going to establish with a holistic vet. Send positive thoughts our way!
Best wishes Joesie! Please consider posting in the forums and check out the blogs and many more resources the Tripawds community has to offer.
My 10.7 yr old Golden was diagnosed with osteosarcoma front rgt shoulder yesterday. I have already refused the traditional methods since I myself have been through Chemo/Rad it’s not good! I’m pursuing holistic treatments for her pain management & quality of life. Keep us in your prayers.
Laura, we are sorry to hear about your Golden and send all our love & well wishes for a speedy recovery. May she kick cancer’s butt just like you!! Join our forums and let us know if we can help with anything OK?
Hi i just felt a lumb in one of my cat Isis breast she is 17 years old i have artemisinin and i think she weighs about 3,5 kg how much do i give her thnxs Jose
Sorry to hear about your kitty Jose. We cannot give dosage information but the links in the article will take you to ones that can. We also recommend meeting with a holistic-minded vet who can provide you with the right direction for caring for your kitty with arte. Best wishes to you both.
I am SO GRATEFUL for this article! I noticed this was written in 2012, I’m curious if Dr. Singh has made any additional/new recommendations since it was written and if there are any links to it?
Glad you found it Robin. Here’s a more current article but not sure if it has the info you’re looking for: Artemisinin FAQs for Dog and Cat Cancer
My 12 yr old German shorthair was just diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his front left leg. Nothing in the lungs yet. Going to be starting the artemisinin Monday when it arrives. Have already started him on tumeric and flax seed oil regemine for inflammation. Will update on his progress.
Thanks for sharing your pup’s situation Lynn, sorry to hear about the diagnosis. We are here to help however we can. Do consider joining our Discussion Forum topic “Eating Healthy” to share your experience with artemisinin for canine osteosarcoma. Best wishes to both of you.
Hi, so glad to find useful info here, thx!
My dog is diagnosed with nasal mast cell tumor. He’s on cortisteroid and I would like to wean him off since it suppresses his immune system. My vet only advises chemo! I want to give him medicine mushrooms and plan on artemisinin and fucoidan. He’s 15 yrs old and 8kgs. Can anyone suggest if he could mix medicinal mushrooms with fucoidan and artemisinin?? Anyone heard of cbd Cannabis for dogs? Thx!
Hi Susan, sorry to hear about your pup. Rest assured there are lots of holistic vets you can turn to. Don’t know about mixing those meds together but here’s a resource you can turn to for a holistic vet:
http://www.ahvma.org/
Best wishes to you both, may your pup have many great days ahead. He’s lucky to have a fantastic mom like you.
Hi Jerry. Thanks very much for this website. I have some questions and suggestions.
While I see many people coming here to ask for information, it’s vital that there be a place where people can post their results. Without detailed results, it’s impossible to reach conclusions about the efficacy of the treatments that people are using on their pets.
To that end, could you write a follow-up article on what happened with Abby, with as much detail as possible? When you say that she “kicked cancer’s butt”, what do you mean?
Also, when people come here for advice, it would be great if they could be directed to a results forum where they would post the age, sex and breed of their pet, the type of cancer and its location, the tests that were done at the beginning of diagnosis and what kinds of tests were done throughout the illness, and what happened as the illness progressed, i.e. whether the pet recovered and how quickly.
I would also like to suggest that folks try LTCI, which has just been approved by the USDA for dogs and has been available for years for cats. LTCI is an immunomodulator, and should be very effective for some types of cancer. It was originally designed for human HIV, but did not go through human trials for reasons related to its profitability (and unrelated to its efficacy).
Dave, thanks for the feedback. Just wanted to let you know that between our member blogs and discussion forums, and several member surveys we’ve done through the years, we have many venues for members to post about their condition, treatments and results. Many people do share the results while for many others it is too painful so they don’t, which we can understand.
I am not seeing that LCTI can be used in any types of limb cancers we see among our members, but thanks for the info.
My little man, Scottie, has oral melanoma, which they strongly believe has metastasis to his lungs. Does anyone know about using Artemix on this type of cancer? He has seen an oncologist and went to a holistic vet last Thursday. He is on 3 Chinese herbs, prednisone, and they want him on the antibiotic.
Best wishes for Scottie! Please consult your vet with nutritional concerns or consider searching and posting in the discussion forums for MUCH more feedback than you’ll get in comments in this blog post.
by the way….I looked at Dr. Singh’s instructions. It’s not 1mg per every lb. It’s 1 mg per every kg.!!! So you have to take your dogs weight in pounds and convert to kilograms. so a 33 lb dog is 15 kg…so you can give around 15 mg of artemether which is about 1/2 a pill a day.
I work a lot with essential oils. Young Living. I’ve helped many dogs (I am not a Dr. or Vet). With Cancer it’s always about major dosing of Frankincense and depending on the cancer I add other oils. My dog had stage 5 lymphoma with 3 weeks to live. She’d lost 15% of her bodyweight and wasn’t eating. Within 2 days of major doses of frankincense and 6 months of special diet, other oils, maitake d fraction mushroom, etc. she recovered. there is NO cancer. And it’s been almost 3 years. She is now 14 and very healthy.
I recently helped my friends dog with a massive heart tumor and it stopped growing for the last 18 months. Now it’s back. And I’m having her try the Artemix. I’m wondering if anyone has recently had positive results from using this with Cancer? And if so what type of Cancer?
Hi Shelly, my dog was diagnosed with stage 5 lymphoma, too on 12/18, we started using Atemix on 1/8 after we’ve seen the oncologies and holistic vet and refused the chemo. My dot is 10.5 years old and I’d really appreciate if you could share more info about the Frankincese and other essential oils you’ve tried on your dog with success. Thank you so much for your help.
My dog is now 65 lbs (originally around 72lbs), I give him 3 capsules of Artemix with one 100mg artemisinin with 3 capsules of butyrex. He is on ozone treatment weekly and special raw diet with goats milk, along with Max’s formula and CAS option. I also give him about 2 hands full of supplements everyday for immune support…
Vicki – I’m so sorry – I just saw this. For some reason I wasn’t alerted to your note. If your dog is still alive I can definitely help by recommending…
let me know…
Also something I’ve found extremely powerful for people and pets. It’s mushrooms. I go to mushroom wisdom.com. Buy the pet fraction. During a very large protocol (from which my dog recovered from stage 5 lymphoma) she took this every day (recommended dosage) for months. I mixed it with many other things – I would usually put the mushroom in puree sweet potato and mix the fish oil in as well with standard process products – in a syringe which I squirted in her mouth (she didn’t like it). I used Nordic Naturals fish oil for Dogs. My dog was on a probiotic everyday. My vet recommends Engterogenic Concentrate from Integrative Therapeutics but I used a very mild one that is cheap (GR8_Dophilus from NOW). These along with Standard Process Products (a must in the protocol) my dog is only around because of the Frankincense and other YL essential oils. Massive doses – lots of layering.
There is a VET who wrote the Animal Desk Reference, by Melissa Shelton DVM. It is undeniably the most important thing in helping your dog heal (with essential oils). Although I recommend the YL oils vs the oils she has, but I’m sure they are good.
Hope some of this helps…
Hi,
I have a dog recently diagnosed with histiocytic sarcoma with lymphatic and vascular invasion.
I read the research of the scientists at Washington State University with great interest. Especially since this kind of cancer is resistant to chemotherapy agents and the doctors research indicates that these supplements helped cancers that were resistant to chemotherapy.
I am going to use your guidelines with the artemix and artemisinin along with the butyrate. Anyone know the d-3 amount to give a dog that weighs 102 pounds?
She has been given only weeks to months to live as of the last week of February 2016. I will post the progress as everything occurs so that anyone else with this type of cancer can weigh the benefits for themselves.
Thank you for the great information!
Sorry for the loss of your precious abby. 😉
God Bless,
Mary Anne W.
so 5 artemix a day and 100mg artemisinin a day with the butyrate? How much butyrate? She weighs 102 pounds.
Best wishes Mary Anne. Please consult your vet regarding any supplements and dosage.
My holistic veterinarian from Hawaii,Dr. Basko, has been very helpful with diet and everything else. Do you know how long Abby was able to keep beating the cancer? I am just wondering because I am now in that boat. Also, very sorry for Jackie’s loss of her beloved Abby and everyone else in here who has lost their beloved companion.
Mary Anne be sure to see this post about Artemisinin too:
http://nutrition.tripawds.com/2015/03/02/artemisinin-faqs/
And here is a story about Abby and Jackie:
http://tripawds.com/2012/01/13/angel-abby-tribute-day-shows-how-to-help-heal-a-broken-heart/
We are so sorry about your pup. Very glad to hear you’re working with a great holistic vet, that’s wonderful. Hugs to you and your cancer hero, may your pup enjoy many great days ahead.
Mary – If you believe in alternative methods. Make sure your dog has good water, no carbs, no grain dog food. Go to Mushroomwisdom.com and get the Petfraction maitake d fraction (boost immune system and helps cause apoptosis of cancer cells). Also go to an alternative vet that knows Standard Process Products (Pet line) and they can help you w/ supplements that help your dog heal from within and fight his own cancer. I could recommend a few essential oils that can reverse the cancer and help but not sure if you want that…Good Luck – I hope the Artemix works.