Dr. John Beard
Trophoblast Theory of Cancer

John Beard, Ph.D. was a Scottish Embryologist who formulated the Trophoblast Theory of Cancer in 1902
Cancer cells are virtually indistinguishable from pre-embryonic cells called “trophoblast cells” – these are cells that grow very quickly during the initial stages of pregnancy in order to stimulate the development of the placenta and umbilical chord.
These placental cells are called trophoblasts and are the first cells to differentiate from the fertilized egg. In this creation of trophoblasts it is important to note that they are a fully parasitic and a distinct feature surrounding the fetal cells that will form the living individual. In their role, trophoblasts mediate the implantation of the individual, but they are never incorporated into the body of the individual or fetus. Thus it is incorrect to call them "fetal" cells. They will eventually be either destroyed or rendered completely inert as far as the mother and fetus are concerned. These cells are often seen as a thin membrane covering the fetus at birth, the so-called "caul." Again, they never form an integral part of the formative individual.
This happens despite the fact that the cells seem not to induce any immunological reaction. A prime reason for this was discovered in this century by Currie and Bhagshawe who showed that the trophoblast was surrounded by a coating (sialo-glycoprotein) including a molecule that gave it a negative charge. The molecule can be likened to mucilage and has been termed the sialo-mucinous coat. A negative charge is also found on the white blood cells responsible for immune reactivity. Since two like charges repel we have delineated the primary reason for lack of rejection based on immune responses.  This same type of coating is found on the cancer cell.  And in fact, it is one of the chief reasons for classifying all cancer cells as "trophoblastic."
Another observation was that the placental trophoblasts seem to take a downturn in activity around the time of the activation of the fetal pancreas, which occurs around the 56th day. Modern research has shown that these trophoblast cells secrete a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and the quantities of this hormone rise until around the 56th day and then begin to taper off. It is this very hormone that coats the trophoblast and cancer cell to make them both immunologically inert. This hormone of pregnancy is expressed in all types of cancers. Dr. Manual Navaro in the 1960’s and 70’s found that measuring CGH in the urine was 95% accurate in the early detection of cancer.
After the trophoblast cells have built the placenta and embedded themselves in the endometrium they have no further function. On the 56th day the embryo’s pancreas begins to produce pancreatic enzymes which break down the sialo-glycoprotein coat and allows the phagocytes to engulf the trophoblast cell.
In time Beard's speculations were put to the test by several physicians using pancreatic enzymes. At first they used only the proteolytic enzyme trypsin, but when the reactions of patients to this tended to be severe they then turned to combining trypsin with amylase, the carbohydrate digesting enzyme, and found that the reactions of the patients were much better.
This is logical, because the glycoprotein surrounding the cancer cell, and the circulating hormone form of this glycoprotein (often mistakenly called a "protein" or "fibrin" coat), are fundamentally presenting to the system as carbohydrate complexes. That is, the body sees the carbohydrate side of the molecule, not the protein side, and amylase attacks this before the proteinases can do a thing.
Click HERE to download original article published in Medical Record in July 1950 entitled The Unitarian or Trophoblastic Thesis of Cancer