Vitamin A Offers Radiation Treatment Protection
Individuals receiving treatment for cervical cancer, prostate cancer or colorectal cancer may find significant relief from the effects of radiation-induced proctopathy (anal injury) by taking vitamin A by mouth. Radiation-induced anal ulcers characterized by diarrhea, urgency, rectal pain, rectal bleeding and fecal incontinence may occur six months or more after irradiation of prostate and pelvic malignancies. Side effects from radiation and chemotherapy are well known. In this current study (Levitsky, J. et al. Oral vitamin A for the treatment of chronic radiation proctopathy: a randomized controlled trial. Gastroenterology: 2003, 124 (4), Suppl. 1.) taking 8000 iu of vitamin A reduced symptoms in 88% of the patients. Improved rectal function and decreased bleeding were attributed to the wound healing and repair properties of vitamin A.
Vitamin A and other nutrients have shown to be extremely effective at reducing the complications of chemotherapy. This is a good reason for a cancer patient to seek out a natural medicine specialist even if traditional chemotherapy is going to be used. Besides helping reduce the complications of chemotherapy, natural substances can also be used to potentiate the cancer killing effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
TUMOR HYPOXIA: ONE FACTOR THAT HURTS THE EFFICACY OF HIGH DOSE CHEMOTHERAPY
Ross Hauser, M.D.
Hypoxia is a medical term that refers to a general low level of oxygen (whether in tissues, organs, cells, or blood, etc.). For a good review on one of the reasons chemotherapy doesn’t work very well is an article entitled Tumor hypoxia, chemotherapeutic resistance, and hypoxia-related therapies (in Cancer Treatment Reviews 2003; 29:297-307). The article explains that low tumor oxygenation (anaerobic physiology) is one of the reasons that cancer cells are not killed completely by high dose chemotherapy. Tumors larger than 1mm³ in volume contain regions of hypoxia as a result of the disordered blood vessel structure and increased diffusion distances found in tumors. This topic is discussed in the book my wife and I wrote, Treating Cancer With Insulin Potentiation Therapy. Hypoxia can also be caused by low hemoglobin levels in the blood due to tumor-associated and therapy-induced anemia, which further compromise the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.
The article goes on to explain that many chemotherapeutic agents are dependent on cellular oxygenation for maximum efficacy. Cytotoxic alkylating agents, such as the melphalan component of nitrogen mustard, are a class of chemotherapeutic drugs whose action involves transferring alkyl groups to DNA during cell division. Tumor cells in normoxic (good oxygen) conditions are more sensitive to melphalan, in contrast to their hypoxic counterparts. Two other common chemotherapeutic agents, etoposide and bleomycin, were also found to be less effective in hypoxic environments. The article explains that using Erythropoietin to increase red blood cells could be a way to increase cancer cell oxygenation and help chemotherapy to be more effective.
The authors summarize that while hypoxia was once seen as a mere consequence of cancer, it is now recognized as a highly influential factor that facilitates the survival of tumor cells with growth advantages, and results in an aggressive tumor phenotype. They also conclude that hypoxia hinders chemotherapeutic treatment by promoting tumor cell resistance to conventional drugs. Hypoxia, therefore, is a prime target for the development of novel cancer therapeutics.
As a result of these investigations and our increased understanding of the causes and effects of tumor hypoxia, the lower treatment doses will be, and the greater the benefits will be for our cancer patients. Optimizing therapies based on the differential hypoxia between tumor and normal tissues, and the ability to increase oxygenation of tumors will revolutionize contemporary cancer treatment.
The previous two statements represent what we’re doing here at the Caring Cancer and Interventional Natural Medicine Center.
|
