Common Names
- Di Bella's tetralogy
- DBM
- Di Bella regimen
For Patients & Caregivers
Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.
What is it?
Di Bella Multitherapy, based on an unconfirmed theory, has been proven ineffective as a cancer treatment.
Di Bella Multitherapy (DBM) was developed by the Italian physician Luigi Di Bella in the 1990s. This treatment was very popular in Italy, despite the fact that clinical trials have not shown that it works. It is based on the unconfirmed theory that cancers, especially lymphomas and leukemias, are stimulated to grow by the hormones prolactin and growth hormone. By giving low-dose chemotherapy along with treatments that would lower prolactin and growth hormone levels, Di Bella reasoned that his therapy could help stimulate the body's self-healing without the toxicity of conventional chemotherapy. He has not provided sufficient evidence, however, to back up these claims. The Di Bella Multitherapy includes:
- Somatostatin, an inhibitor of growth hormone
- Melatonin, a hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle and is also an antioxidant. Laboratory and animal studies of melatonin suggest possible anticancer activity, but no studies in humans have shown such an effect. See melatonin monograph for additional information.
- Bromocriptine, which inhibits the secretion of prolactin from the pituitary gland.
- A solution of retinoic acid, vitamin A, beta carotene, and vitamin E. These retinoids are antioxidants. See monographs for additional information.
Di Bella's theory about cancer has not been confirmed, and the clinical trials that have been performed with this therapy do not provide any support for it.
What are the potential uses and benefits?
- To treat Alzheimer's disease
No scientific evidence supports this use. - To treat cancer
Clinical trials do not support this use. - To treat Lou Gehrig's disease
There is no evidence to support this claim. - To treat multiple sclerosis
No scientific evidence supports this use. - To treat retinitis pigmentosa
This use is not backed by research.
What are the side effects?
- Increased pain at tumor site in advanced cancer patients
- Increased sleepiness
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Low blood sugar
- Swelling of the ankles and feet
- Low red blood count
- Low platelet count
What else do I need to know?
Do Not Take if:
- You are taking opioid mediation such as percocet, codeine, oxycodone, morphine, or methadone: Somatostatin can lessen or eliminate their effects.
- You are taking drugs that increase prolactin concentration such as amitriptyline, butyrophenones, imipramine, methyldopa, phenothiazines, and reserpine: Bromocriptine may interact with these drugs because it is a prolactin inhibitor.
- You are taking nifedipine: Melatonin, when taken at the same time, can cause high blood pressure and increased heart rate.
- You are taking fluvoxamine: This medication can increase blood levels of melatonin, resulting in sedation.
For Healthcare Professionals
Clinical Summary
Di Bella multitherapy, a questionable alternative therapy, consists of somatostatin, melatonin, bromocriptine, a solution of retinoids, and low doses of cyclophosphamide or hydroxyurea. Physiologist Luigi Di Bella developed the regimen and promotes it as an effective treatment for cancer, retinitis pigmentosa, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Treatment is tailored to the individual patient, and purportedly stimulates the body’s self-healing without the toxicity of conventional chemotherapy.
Di Bella multitherapy is based on the theory that growth hormone (GH) and prolactin are involved in neoplastic growth. Somatostatin and its analog octreotide inhibit the secretion of GH and IGF-1 in humans (1), while bromocriptine is a prolactin inhibitor (6). This treatment was very popular in Italy in the late 1990s as Di Bella claimed he cured thousands on an outpatient basis and physicians in other countries such as Canada also prescribed it. The treatment was also highly publicized and politicized in Italy, raising the issue of “freedom of treatment” for patients who could not afford the expensive regimen. In response, local judges ordered that somatostatin be added to the list of effective reimbursable medications (21) (22), and the Italian National Institute of Health supported 11 separate open-label uncontrolled phase II studies of 8 different cancers, organized by Di Bella and the National Cancer Advisory Committee (20). These trials found no complete responses (23) (24), 0.8% partial response rate, and considerable toxicity (12) (18). However, in uncontrolled studies 20 patients with late stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma had a 70% response rate (6), and 15 patients with osteosarcoma had improved survival and quality of life (25) with similar regimens.
Adverse effects include increased pain at tumor site, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, and somnolence (6). Somatostatin may reduce or eliminate the efficacy of painkillers such as methadone and morphine (11).
Purported Uses and Benefits
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cancer treatment
- Lou Gehrig’s Disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Retinitis pigmentosa
Mechanism of Action
The Di Bella Multitherapy is based on the theory that growth hormone (GH) and prolactin are involved in neoplastic growth, particularly in lymphomas and leukemias. The following components have been studied, but their combined activities and at the Di Bella doses are unknown.
Somatostatin inhibits growth hormone (GH) secretion. Its synthetic analog, octreotide, shows antineoplastic activity in vitro and in vivo, and is used clinically for the treatment of acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors. Their biological effects are mediated via high affinity plasma membrane receptors that are found throughout the body and on many human tumors. Clinical studies show a reduction in serum IGF-1 and IGF-1 gene expression after treatment with octreotide (1). Somatostatin and analogs also enhance secretion and expression of IGF-binding protein-1, which negatively regulates plasma IGF-1, while inhibiting mitogens and secretion of gastrointestinal hormones implicated in tumor growth. Somatostatin analogs also show immune-modulating activity in vitro and inhibit angiogenesis and directly induce cell growth arrest and apoptosis in vivo and in vitro (7).
Melatonin is a free-radical scavenger and displays anti-proliferative effects on various cancer cell lines in vitro, but no human studies show evidence of anti-tumor activity. Melatonin shows antimyelodysplastic activity and reduces bone marrow toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents in animal models. See melatonin for additional information (2) (3) (4) (5).
Bromocriptine is a dopamine agonist and prolactin inhibitor. Prolactin stimulates growth of lymphomas in vivo and in vitro, and prolactin receptors are present on normal and neoplastic lymphoid cells.
Retinoids act as antioxidants and immunostimulants, cause cell growth arrest in B-cell lymphomas in vitro, and have shown benefit in trials of promyelotic leukemia and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
ACTH receptors can be found on T and B lymphocytes and ACTH has been seen to depress lymphocyte blastogenesis and modulate NK cell activity in vitro (6).
Adverse Reactions
Reported (DBM): Increased pain at tumor site in advanced cancer patients; somnolence, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, grade I hyperglycemia, ankle-feet edema; anemia and thrombocytopenia were noted in trials using cyclophosphamide (12).
Case Report (DBM): A breast cancer patient with lung and liver metastases developed acute myeloid leukemia, which her physicians associate with chronic cyclophosphamide use after treatment with Di Bella therapy. Her leukemia led rapidly to death due to cerebral hemorrhage (13).
Common (Somatostatin): Gastrointestinal complaints of diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea; cholelithiasis, and effects on glucose metabolism (6).
Toxicity (Somatostatin): Pain at injection site, allergic reactions, hair loss, a few cases of reversible hepatic dysfunction (11).
Reported (Bromocriptine): Hypotension, peripheral vasoconstriction, dyskinesias, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, postpartum MI, headache, dizziness, psychosis (6).
Reported (Melatonin): Drowsiness, alterations in sleep patterns, altered mental status, disorientation, tachycardia, flushing, pruritus, abdominal cramps, headache, hypothermia (6) (8) (14) (15).
Herb-Drug Interactions
Opiates: Somatostatin has opioid antagonist properties and has been observed to decrease or eliminate the analgesic effects of methadone and morphine in advanced cancer patients requiring pain relief (11).
Drugs that increase prolactin concentration (amitriptyline, butyrophenones, imipramine, methyldopa, phenothiazines, and reserpine): Bromocriptine can interact with these drugs because it is a prolactin inhibitor (6).
Nifedipine: Concomitant administration of melatonin and nifedipine has resulted in elevations in blood pressure and heart rate (16).
Fluvoxamine: In humans, fluvoxamine coadministration increased the bioavailability of melatonin (9) (17).