# Insulin potentiation therapy

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/insulin-potentiation-therapy/  
OnCo record `insulin-potentiation-therapy` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Insulin potentiation therapy gives insulin with a fraction of the usual chemotherapy dose, on the claim that insulin makes cancer cells absorb the drug better. It has never been tested in a well-designed trial, it causes low blood sugar, and some clinics offering it are not run by oncologists.

## Summary

Developed in Mexico in the 1930s, insulin potentiation therapy rests on the idea that cancer cells, being hungrier for sugar, respond more to insulin, so that insulin lets a reduced dose of chemotherapy (up to one tenth of the normal dose) achieve the same effect with fewer side effects. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs summary states that pharmacokinetic data on giving insulin with chemotherapy are lacking, that it is unclear whether insulin also increases damage to healthy cells, and that exploratory studies suggest some benefit but well-designed clinical trials have not been done. The drugs used are approved, but clinics give them off-label, and some are not operated or staffed by oncologists. The main recognised side effect is hypoglycaemia, which is added to by diabetes medicines. A dose of chemotherapy chosen this way has not been shown to work as well as the dose proven in trials, so the risk for a reader is under-treatment of a cancer that standard doses could control. Ask any clinic offering it which trial its regimen comes from.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: concept
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: IPT
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:insufficient
- Principle: The proposed mechanism, insulin-driven uptake of chemotherapy by cancer cells, has not been demonstrated in people; insulin and insulin-like growth factor can themselves promote cancer growth.
- Strengths: Uses approved drugs
- Limitations: No well-designed clinical trial; Low blood sugar; Reduced chemotherapy doses not shown to be equivalent

## Sources

- MSK About Herbs: Insulin potentiation therapy (page last updated 25 February 2021): https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/insulin-potentiation-therapy

## Connected records

- technologies: [Alternative medicine used instead of standard treatment](https://onco.cc/technologies/alternative-medicine-instead-of-treatment/), [Cesium chloride ('high pH therapy')](https://onco.cc/technologies/cesium-chloride/), [Cytotoxic chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/), [Di Bella multitherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/di-bella-multitherapy/), [Evidence-based integrative oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/integrative-oncology/), [Low-dose naltrexone](https://onco.cc/technologies/low-dose-naltrexone/)
- fronts: [Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/chemotherapy/), [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- terms: [Unproven diet claims (alkaline, juice, 'anti-cancer' diets)](https://onco.cc/terms/unproven-diet-claims/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/insulin-potentiation-therapy.json