Posted on 08/05/2012 6:57:19 PM PDT by dubyagee
Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday. Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab.
They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found "evidence of DNA damage" in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chemotherapy-backfire-boost-cancer-growth-study-164516832.html
(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...
“I have a hard time believe that alternative therapies work because there are far too many rich celebrities and politicians who die of cancer every day.”
Alternative works, conventional medicine does not. But believe what you will. It is your life to loose if you come down with cancer and choose the oncology route. And by the way, it is not about money. Successful alternative treatments are not expensive...less than the copay with conventional oncology treatments that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars (usually insurance company dollars).
Conventional oncology therapies are maybe 5% successful. Alternative therapies for late stage cancers are in the 50% successful range...these are the ones the doctor has said ‘get your affairs in order’.
So true.
this Thursday will mark my halfway point in my chemo, to be followed by radiation. I chose it, i’ll live with the results. I have chemo every other week, so I get 3 or 4 days every two weeks that are really good. Today was one of them.
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I suspect that in a few years we will look back at these treatments as we do bleeding in the 18th century.
Have to go with the Doc’s expertise, and knowledge of the percentages.
I was trying to play google-doc and was determined to select my own chemo type, but fate stepped in and made that impossible.
Had to go with Doc’s recommendation....
Later learned that my “studied” preference would have likely killed me.
7 weeks of low dose cisplatin & radiation saved me....7 years ago.
that was 20 to 30 years ago. what is the current status of those protocols?
that was 20 to 30 years ago. what is the current status of those protocols?
another Duh article. We docs always knew a small percentage of those who got chemo would develop another cancer, usually a blood cancer since the chemo affects growing cells such as in the bone marrow.
But of course, there is a subgroup of patients who get multiple cancers too: one of the “risks” for breast cancer is having breast cancer. Often they find a small one in the other breast when they biopsy the first one.
Both problems have to do with the immune system....when it gets weak, it doesn’t destroy the cancer mutation.
However, like most medical treatments, it’s “not as bad as the disease”: its a benefit risk ratio. If you had cancer, would you rather die right away or die twenty years later from a chemo induced cancer?
“Hoo-boy! This article certainly does nothing to boost my spirits. My dad’s been battling prostate cancer off and on for about 20 years and just found out he now has lung cancer. His first chemo treatment begins this week. He sounded so tired this afternoon when I spoke to him on the phone, so I was already worried about him before seeing this.
All I can do at this point is pray.”
As a father who happens to be a cancer survivor...as well as, two heart attacks, diabetes, and COPD I can tell you that the worse part of having terminal disease is knowing how difficult it is on your family. I will never forget having to tell my wife and then each of my three kids having Kidney cancer. As this was my fourth “terminal” disease I was also quite beaten for a while.
Then...through my prayers and reaching out to God...I was given a few gifts from above (actually many gifts during this tough time period). God taught me that all life is temporary, it is our souls that are eternal.
All true wisdom comes from love and that during our suffering we are actually closer to God and hence have a wonderful opportunity to truly develop a personal relationship that is so very loving with our creator.
Life is a gift, and we decide each day whether we will live it dying or living. Most days I choose to live! God bless you and your father, I will say a prayer for you both.
And you’ll be in my prayers too. You’ve been through a lot already.
I could tell Dad did NOT want to tell me what was going on, and can tell he’s trying to put up a good front to keep me from worrying too much. But that’s what daddies do, isn’t it?
These illnesses are hard to come to terms with but our faith gets us through.
God bless you and may he give you a few more gifts from above.
Absolutely. But what is equally distressing is that TWO separate studies showed that almost 83% os scientific medical studies could not be replicated or only partially confirmed.
The Brewer Protocol with Cesium is still a current protocol.
Not surprising, since it's well known that chemo and/or radiation are blunt instruments used to destroy the [growth of the] tumour, and they may - and usually do - seriously affect the healthy cells and the immune system of the patient, which makes it easier for the cancer to reappear.
That's why there are many biopharma companies working on the targeted, "smart" drug delivery mechanisms and/or different class of "smart" gene-modified drugs which do not destroy the healthy surrounding tissues and cells.
See, for example, Virus kills breast cancer cells in laboratory - FR, 2011 September 11
New drugs could transform cancer treatment (PARP inhibitors) - FR / MSNBC, 2009 June 24
Gene therapy and stem cells unite - FR / BBC, 2011 October 12
Recent discovery of the "cancer stem cells" as the likely initial culprit of cancer growth make it seem likely that tumour growth is just an early "symptom" of cell mutation and migration, not the actual "cause" of the growth, thereby destroying the tumour or inhibiting its growth in and of itself - without destroying cancer stem cells - is not the real cure but rather treating the symptom, though in many cases it may be sufficient as cancer stem cells might be destroyed or modified as well.
Evidence Grows That Cancer Has Its Own Stem Cells - FR / USN, 2012 August 01
Another pathway to treatment and/or prevention is boosting the immune system so it can fight cancer from developing and/or progressing.
Strengthening the immune system is also helpful for recovery while undergoing other, more "conventional" treatments, but needs careful understanding and coordination. For instance, recent obsession with antioxidants of any kind may be counterproductive to chemo therapy because much of the chemo effect is derived from actually oxidizing the tumour, so some antioxidants and other agents may interfere with treatment.
For example, NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) which may be helpful and often used in detox (as a pre-cursor of master amino acid glutathione, because glutathione itself is not well absorbed by the system) may actively interfere with the chemo mechanism and is counter-indicative.
Some other, less "conventional" mechanisms and treatments are now seriously studied to help immune system, but more studies needed to account for efficacy, drug interaction and possible side effects, e.g., trying to synthesize or derive Isothiocyanates (ITCs) from natural sources, to affect certain mutant genes:
How Wasabia japonica kills cancer.
So always consult your therapist(s) if you think you found something or the information that might be helpful in treatment - it might help them and you.
Thank you for posting that information.
Those studies and many others out there today are very exciting. And, in recent years, many other new types of targeted treatments are being used for certain types of cancers, such as breast cancer. I just wish patients with all types of cancer didn’t have to wait so long for the newer treatments/drugs to be approved for use.
Thanks!
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