Supplements Cannot Cure Cancer!
About every month or so, some newscaster or reporter will tell of a new compound, food or food group, genetic finding, or supplement (vitamin, mineral, or nutritional) that decreases one's cancer risk. These findings are great and play a role in natural medicine care, especially if someone who has a high cancer risk is trying to prevent cancer. There is nothing better than preventing cancer from forming, but cancer prevention is not cancer treatment.
Supplement Use For Prostate Cancer
A patient came in with all of his supplements. He had lycopene supplements, modified citrus pectin, Echinacea, selenium, saw palmetto, and a host of others. Any supplement that he read about that supposedly helped the prostate gland he bought and used. He must have been taking 200 pills a day from about 20 different bottles. He was also eating healthy foods and drinking distilled water. His PSAs (prostate-specific antigens) were not climbing quickly, but they were going up and hovering at about 28. A biopsy confirmed prostate cancer.
The patient was slowing the progression of his disease, but it was still progressing. Most of the items that he was taking were great for prostate health, but they were not likely to give him tumor remission, which was the ultimate goal. I explained the possibilities with natural medicine, surgery, and the differences in nutritional supplements.
He underwent a comprehensive prostate cancer profile that looked at various hormone levels. We agreed that he needed to get his dihydrotestosterone levels down, which was one of the factors involved in feeding his cancer. He was started on a nutritional supplement for this. I also felt that he may have some heavy metal toxicity that might be related to his cancer, but he chose to just go ahead with prostate removal. He has done well and remains cancer free. He continues to take his nutritional supplements and eat a healthy diet.
The patient had read a lot about prostate cancer prevention and felt that he must take gobs of selenium. Well, that is great if you want to get selenium poisoning. Selenium is a good mineral for a cancer patient to take, but what is the goal of therapy? If it is tumor regression, a cancer patient then needs to be under the care of a physician. Just because a vitamin, mineral, or nutritional product has some cancer prevention properties does not mean that it will cause a tumor to shrink. One can almost assume the opposite; it will be great for tumor prevention but not nearly strong enough for tumor regression. This is why when picking an appropriate cancer treatment or therapy, or even a supplement for that matter, it is important to know what its purpose is. Taking a little selenium is fine if you have prostate cancer; just don't put your hopes into it shrinking your tumor.
The Importance of Rest In Cancer Therapy
A patient came to the office with an aggressive colon cancer that had affected his gastrointestinal tract and bladder. He had already undergone two surgeries, and it was obvious that he was not doing well by his dehydrated, malnourished body. He told us about his restaurant, one of the premiere places to eat. It soon became apparent to us that the restaurant was killing him. He was working horribly long hours, while at the same time undergoing surgeries and radiation therapy treatments. We recommended that he take a leave of absence and enroll in an aggressive natural medicine program.
Two months later the patient was working as many hours as ever, and we again reiterated the fact that he needed to take a leave of absence from his work, that we needed to see his wife and family in the office with him, and that he needs to take other drastic steps or he would no longer be alive to take care of any restaurant. We never saw him again. The task of getting better from his cancer was too great, and he died about six months later.
Actress Picks Job Versus Cancer Care
Just as sad a story is when we were called by a local naprapathic physician. He had a "star" in his office and wanted us to give her an examination. As soon as she walked in, several staff members recognized her. We could see immediately why she was sent over. She had significant lymph nodes in her groin, and she looked very dusky. People who become pale generally have low blood counts, which can be a sign of a cancerous condition. We ordered some blood tests and CT scans. Within a couple of days, we told her that she had metastatic ovarian cancer and that we should start some type of aggressive treatment. We also told her that she immediately needed to take a leave of absence from work.
She said this was absolutely impossible. She then explained about the many years it took her to get her current role and that if the studio found out she had cancer, her character would be written off. We made it clear to her that if she did not take a leave of absence, they would have to write her character off the show because the actress would not be around to play the role. She humored us by starting on a few supplements and soon was off to Hollywood. About two months later, we heard from the other physician that the actress had passed away.
Cancer is not something to be thought of as an inconvenience to a person's life. Once the physician says you have cancer, it means cancer is your life. It is your life until you arrest it, until it completely goes into remission, or until it takes your life. This is why a person with cancer needs to have a designated caretaker and have as much supporting staff as he or she feels comfortable with. Being surrounded by love and support is sometimes the best medicine.
It sometimes is difficult for driven people to rest. Rest is a necessary part of life. A cancer patient needs a lot of rest. Even if a person has a great caretaker, there is still going to be a lot of shopping for organic foods, preparing them, taking supplements, exercising, doing fun activities, attending church or religious services (the more people praying for a sick person the better), visiting friends and relatives, going to doctor appointments, getting blood tests and x-rays, and the whole gamut of activities that are necessary for life. Getting better from cancer is more than a full-time job. It is impossible to do all of the above well and get enough rest while a person working a full-time job that, in all likelihood, is partly responsible for the disease in the first place. Do not underestimate rest as a powerful cancer treatment.
Chemotherapeutic Agents Used In IPT
During Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT), it is common for a patient to receive three or four different agents during a treatment, each of which kills cancer cells by a different mechanism. This, at least theoretically, will decrease the likelihood of the cancer cells becoming resistant to the drugs used, and also will increase the likelihood of cancer cell death.
Most IPT regimes include an alkylating agent. These are the oldest class of chemotherapy drugs and include cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, dacarbazine, and Cisplatin. They are not cell cycle specific. Alkylating agents are highly reactive compounds that easily attach to DNA and cellular proteins. The primary mode of action for most of these agents is via cross-linking of DNA strands, which stops the replication of the DNA.
Antimetabolites are another class of chemotherapy drugs used during IPT. This variety of chemotherapy medication works primarily during the S phase of the cell cycle by interfering with the synthesis (formation) of DNA. DNA is made up of nucleotides, and one that is specific to DNA is thymidine. Some of the more common antimetabolites work by interfering with the normal metabolism of the cell, and incorporating thymidine into DNA. Inhibition of DNA synthesis can be accomplished with 5-fluorouracil, which inhibits thymidylate synthase, and methotrexate, which inhibits dihydrofolate reductase. Often the combination of methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil is used to increase these effects.
There are many classes of chemotherapy drugs, including hormones, enzymes, mitotic inhibitors, topoisomerase inhibitors, and others. All have the net effect of killing cancer cells. The specific regime that is chosen for IPT depends on many variables, including the mechanisms of action of the various chemotherapy drugs.
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