Cantron

Cantron is yet another odious piece of cancer woo. Other names it is sold under include Cancell, Protocel, Sheridan's Formula, Jim's Juice, Crocinic Acid, JS–114, JS–101, 126–F and Entelev.

It was invented by crank biochemist James V. Sheridan with the aim of targeting the anaerobic cell respiration of cancer cells, in accordance with the now-outmoded Warburg hypothesis (that cancer happens when cells make energy anaerobically, rather than by mutation or activation of oncogenes). Thus, it originated in the sort of pseudoscience that holds that an invalidated hypothesis is valid.

Ingredients
The precise formula is secret. The FDA lists the components as inositol, nitric acid, sodium sulfite, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and catechol. The nonexistent "crocinic acid" was originally listed as an ingredient.

Effectiveness
None. The National Cancer Institute tested the constituents in animal experiments in 1978 and 1980 and in vitro on human tumors in 1990 and 1991, and concluded that the ingredients could not be taken in doses high enough to kill cancer cells in the body, and that further study was not warranted.

The American Cancer Society recommends against bothering with it.

There appear to be no tests on the secret formulation itself, which is a nice escape hatch.

Legal status
The stuff is sold as a dietary supplement. Sheridan has been legally enjoined against selling it.