Antonio Bru

Infobox Scientist
name = Antonio Bru
birth_date = birth date|1962|5|4|mf=y
birth_place = Madrid, Spain
nationality = Spain
fields = Applied mathematics Physics
workplaces = Complutense University of Madrid
alma_mater = Complutense University of Madrid
doctoral_advisor = Miguel Ángel Rodríguez

Antonio Bru Espino (born 1962) is an applied mathematician and permanent professor in the Departament of Applied Mathematics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. [ [https://www.cvit.org/node/238 Antonio Bru, Ph.D. | Center for the Development of a Virtual Tumor ] ] Bru received his PhD in 1995 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, in physics, with advisor Miguel Ángel Rodríguez.

Cancer Research

Dr. Bru is known for the controversy surrounding his research on cancer, which states (among other things) that:
* The defining factor that determines the growth of solid tumours is not the search for nutrients, but the search for space to grow.
* Solid tumours may be treated solely through an enhancement of the immune response, achievable with high doses of Neupogen, a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) routinely used in Oncology in order to recover the level of these blood cells after chemotherapy.

Bru's theory stems from his mathematical research on the fractal growth of tumour cell colonies "in vitro". This growth, according to his studies, would display a set of distinct characteristics with regards to growth patterns and would imply a greater proliferation around tumour boundaries. Bru's team referred this growth pattern as the "Universal Dynamics of Tumour Growth". This theory is currently recognised as one of the possible equations to describe tumour growth.

The rationale for the use of Neupogen would be that the concurrence of a massive amount of neutrophils near the edge of the tumour may result in a massive population in the concavities at the tumour edge, consequently blocking its growth. He has published his research in Europhysics Letters (2003), [ [http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0295-5075/64/5/620/ Anomalous scaling of multivalued interfaces ] ] , the Biophysical Journal (2003) [cite journal |author=Buceta J, Galeano J |title=Comments on the article "The universal dynamics of tumor growth" by A. Bru et al |journal=Biophys. J. |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=3734–6; discussion 3737–8 |year=2005 |month=May |pmid=15722434 |pmc=1305520 |doi=10.1529/biophysj.104.043463 |url=http://www.biophysj.org/cgi/content/full/88/5/3737] (where he expands on the MBE theory), and in Physical Review Letters (2004).cite journal |author=Brú A, Albertos S, López García-Asenjo JA, Brú I |title=Pinning of tumoral growth by enhancement of the immune response |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=92 |issue=23 |pages=238101 |year=2004 |month=Jun |pmid=15245196 |doi= |url=http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v92/p238101]

Bru reported treating two patients with G-CSF: a male with terminal hepatic cancer and a female with a Phase IV melanoma. He published the tumour remission of the hepatocellular carcinoma patient in the Journal of Clinical Research (May 2005) 8: 9-13. [http://www.pjbpubs.com/cms.asp?pageid=1973#9-13 Journal of Clinical Research - efficacy of new clinical interventions ] ] , a source of controversy, as the publication has no impact factor.

His alleged success on the two patients, the fact that Bru comes from the Complutense University, his collaboration with researchers from the Spanish Scientific Research Council CSIC and the San Carlos Hospital in Madrid, as well as the mix of mathematical and biological research, made his theory a breaking news event in Spain.

Dr. Bru has publicly asked for the possibility of doing clinical trials in order to confirm his results, but this has been impossible to date. It was nearly done in the Ramón y Cajal hospital [ [http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?pagename=HospitalRamonCajal/Page/HRYC_home Hospital Ramon Cajal ] ] in Madrid, but there was no consensus due to conditions deemed unacceptable by Bru's team:

* A statistically insignificant number of patients;
* The addition of a mortality case in the information given for patient consent of which Bru had no knowledge of.
* The animosity from a potential team member.

In June 2007 Bru presented a new proposal for a clinical trial to the "Fundación Puigvert" [ [http://www.fundacio-puigvert.es/ intro ] ] in Barcelona for prostate cancer,http://www.mat.ucm.es/~abruespi/] but it was rejected by said Foundation.

Controversy

Bru has confronted scientific and personal attacks [ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundosalud/2005/05/31/oncologia/1117557139.html "Debemos velar por que no se engañe al paciente con cáncer" > elmundo.es salud ] ] as well as generalized media derision. The reactions of the Spanish oncology community was also negative [ [http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/salud/2005/627//1122069614.html EL MUNDO | Suplemento salud 627 - Autorizaciones inauditas ] ] [ [http://www.elmundo.es/salud/2006/648/1137798004.html EL MUNDO | Suplemento salud 648 - El tratamiento propuesto por Brú encierra riesgos severos ] ] (the latter answered by Bru [http://www.mat.ucm.es/~abruespi/Indexnew.html] ) and resulted in the cancellation of scheduled conferences [ [http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/hemeroteca/2005/10/21/4180652.shtml Los oncólogos vetan una charla de Brú en un congreso médico en Ourense ] ] : The pharmaceutical industry has dismissed his work, something Bru ascribes to the fear of losing the economic benefits derived from conventional treatments.

The SEOM (Spanish Association of Medical Oncology) and la AECC (Spanish Association Against Cancer) have been firm in rejecting the therapy proposed by Dr. Bru. Most of the criticism is based on the following arguments:

* His theory has not been proven in preclinical studies and the number of animals used is too low to be considered statistically significant.
* Dr. Bru is a physicist and, according to SEOM officials, clinical follow-up of patient progress such as that of the published case, must be done by specialized oncologists.http://www.seom.org/seomcms/images/stories/recursos/salaprensa/notasprensa/2005/notaJun05.pdf]
* He has published only one case of a patient without biopsy. [http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/salud/2005/620//1117836007.html EL MUNDO | Suplemento salud 620 - El extraño caso del profesor Brú ] ] .
* Due to the above, the success on the male hepatic patient was reported in a magazine with no impact factor; such factor, according to the SEOM, is keys to measure the scientific quality of an article.
* His research has not been sufficiently broadcasted to the the scientific community in journals or meetings.
* A segment of the physicians who initially collaborated with Dr. Bru terminated their association because of their reticence towards his hypotheses. The loss of these researchers left Bru with the a core team of close friends and relatives.

These criticisms make no reference of the inherent difficulty of:

* Doing clinical experiments such as the ones demanded by Bru without adverse pressure, whether tacit or express.
* Measuring the objective quality of an article by means of the impact factor of a journal. [cite journal |author=Seglen PO |title=Why the impact factor of journals should not be used for evaluating research |journal=BMJ |volume=314 |issue=7079 |pages=498–502 |year=1997 |month=Feb |pmid=9056804 |pmc=2126010 |doi= |url=]
* Publishing results on scientific journals, especially those with a high impact factor, without internal endorsement; [ [http://arxiv.org/help/endorsement arXiv.org help - The arXiv endorsement system ] ]
* Broadcasting experiments or results in a meeting without experimental results.

Most criticism stems from the oncology community and pivots on the lack of preclinical data, as well as from Biophysical experts. [http://www.exp-oncology.com.ua/en/archives/28/body548.pdf] [cite journal |author=Buceta J, Galeano J |title=Comments on the article "The universal dynamics of tumor growth" by A. Bru et al |journal=Biophys. J. |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=3734–6; discussion 3737–8 |year=2005 |month=May |pmid=15722434 |pmc=1305520 |doi=10.1529/biophysj.104.043463 |url=]

According to Bru the therapy has not been sufficiently developed due to a policy of consistent obstacles from the Spanish oncological community -- obstacles which could be described as corporatism and systematic mobbing. [http://www.dsalud.com/numero65_1.htm Discovery Dsalud >>> Antonio Brú: "Bastaría Potenciar El Sistema Inmune Para Superar El Cáncer" <<< ] ] [ [http://www.madrimasd.org/informacionidi/noticias/noticia.asp?id=22570 Antonio Brú: Aquí no se valoran 13 años de estudio intenso, sino el título de oncólogo ] ]

Bru has repeatedly said that he is willing to further discuss his research as long as it solely on scientific grounds and under independent supervision. [ [http://www.informativos.telecinco.es/antonio-bru/cancer/complutense/dn_6353.htm Informativos Telecinco.com - Entrevista: Antonio Bru - Antonio Bru: "La Complutense apoyará mi investigación contra el cáncer" ] ]

Current situation of Bru's research on cancer

The research by Bru's team is at risk of becoming stalled due to the obstacles posed by the medical establishment, as well as to the subsequentlack of funding. [ [http://www.dsalud.com/numero102_4.htm Discovery Dsalud >>> Antonio Brú: "Me Estoy Planteando Abandonar Mis Investigaciones Experimentales Sobre Cáncer Porque No He Conseguido Dinero Para Desarrollarlas" <<< Report... ] ]

References

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= Juan Manuel Pastor; Isabel Fernaud; Isabel Brú; Sonia Melle; Carolina Berenguer
title= Super-Rough Dynamics on Tumor Growth
journal= Physical Review Letters
volume= 81 (18)
year= 1998
url=http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v81/i18/p4008_1
format=PDF
issn=0031-9007

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= Albertos, S.; Subiza, J.L.; López García-Asenjo, J. A.; Brú, I.
title= The Universal Dynamics of Tumor Growth
journal= Biophysical Journal
volume= 85
year= 2003 |month=Nov |pmid=14581197 |pmc=1303573
pages= 2948–61
url= http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v92/i23/e238101
format= PDF
issn= 0006-3495

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= Casero, D.
title= The effect of pressure on the growth of tumour cell colonies
journal= Journal of Theoretical Biology
volume= 243 |issue=2
year= 2006
month=Nov |pmid=16890243 |doi=10.1016/j.jtbi.2006.05.020
pages= 171–80
url= http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WMD-4K3KCH4-2&_user=779849&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000031018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=779849&md5=8421d3470d2715283fbd6d0dc745a76d
format= PDF
issn= 0022-5193

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= Herrero, Miguel A.
title= From the physical laws of tumor growth to modeling cancer processes
journal= Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences
volume= 16
year= 2006
month=
pages= 1199–218
url= http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WMD-4K3KCH4-2&_user=779849&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000031018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=779849&md5=8421d3470d2715283fbd6d0dc745a76d
format= PDF
issn= 0218-2025
doi= 10.1142/S0218202506001510

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= D. Casero; S. de Franciscis; M.A. Herrero
title= Fractal analysis and tumour growth
journal= Mathematical and computer modelling
volume= 47
year= 2007
url= http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V0V-4NT9GB9-5&_user=779849&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000031018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=779849&md5=168a4405986b312ee683c1368debe49c
format= PDF
issn= 0895-7177

* cite journal
last= Brú
first=Antonio
authorlink=Antonio Brú
coauthors= Albertos, S.; Subiza, J.L.; López García-Asenjo, J. A.; Brú, I.
title= Reply to Comments by Buceta and Galeano Regarding the Article "The Universal Dynamics of Tumor Growth"
journal= Biophysical Journal
volume= 88
year= 2008
pages= 3737–8
url= http://www.biophysj.org/cgi/reprint/88/5/3737
format= PDF
doi= 10.1529/biophysj.104.056929

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG_c385YqWw&feature=related
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSGo4sEXVC4&feature=related
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3cQjJuKs0c&feature=related
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFyFVUytNfA&feature=related
* http://rapidshare.com/files/111618865/terapia_contra_el_cancer_antonio_bru.pdf

* Compendium of references on tumour growth, since 1955: http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/~pscrooke/CancerModeling.pdf