Germane facts about germanium sesquioxide: II. Scientific error and misrepresentation.

The preceding paper reviewed the anticancer properties and safety of bis (2-carboxyethylgermanium) sesquioxide (CEGS). An examination of those data leads one to question why this information has not stimulated clinical trials in patients with cancer. The answer is discussed in this paper, which traces the history to an error published in the scientific literature in 1987. The reliance by subsequent authors on secondary sources, citing only the error and not the correction published in 1988, constitutes part of the explanation of why CEGS has been neglected. A second factor is also considered: careless reporting about any germanium-based compound as if the many thousands of germanium compounds were all the same. This combination of a publication error, careless writing, and the reliance on secondary sources appears to be responsible for the neglect of the potential clinical use of this unique germanium compound.