Defeat Cancer (15 page)

We use many different herbs and nutrients in our practice to increase cellular energy and improve immune function. Thousands of published reports demonstrate the beneficial effects of herbs and nutrients upon cancer. Unfortunately, most oncologists are telling their patients not to take them while doing conventional treatments, because they believe that they can interfere with their treatments. However, one oncologist did a study that was published in 2007, proving this to be a myth, and that not only do herbs and nutrients not interfere with conventional treatments, but they actually enhance their effectiveness. I am hoping that more doctors will recognize their benefits, but until they do, one of the main messages that I impart to my patients is that they should interview their physicians. A one-size-fits-all approach to medicine doesn’t work, and it’s important for patients to put together their own team of competent practitioners who can help them to get better.

We usually build our patients’ treatment plans in layers; meaning, we start them off with a few treatments and then build upon those. For most, we first prescribe a medicinal smoothie, which they drink once or twice a day. This consists of a high quality whey protein powder, combined with magnesium and creatine to support muscle mass, colostrum for immune function, and high doses of astragalus, eleutherococcus, and organic blueberries to build cellular energy. They can choose to flavor the smoothie by adding unsweetened almond milk or fresh flax seed powder to it. I wish we could come up with another name for it, though, because “smoothie” in most people’s psyche means a very sweet tasting restaurant drink that’s full of sugar. It’s possible to prepare these medicinal smoothies so that they taste good, though. Our smoothies are a good way to get nutrients into the body.

Following the smoothie, we add additional layers to the regimen; anything from liver-protective herbs like broccoli and cabbage sprouts to liquid iodine (if people are deficient in iodine), to minerals and high doses of Vitamin D. After checking patients’ blood levels of Vitamin D, we will prescribe a minimum of 10,000 IUs of
Vitamin D daily, regardless of the stage of cancer that they are in (unless they were taking Vitamin D before they came to see us, in which case we may adjust the dosage). We also start them on herbs that modulate the immune system, and will frequently add other nutrients and herbs, according to their needs. For example, we may give gotu kola for glioblastomas, licorice root for people on dexamethasone, urtica seeds for kidney support, and milk thistle during chemotherapy to support the liver detoxification pathways. If men have prostate cancer, we may add herbs like saw palmetto and pumpkin seed oil to their regimens. If they aren’t sleeping and their muscle mass is low, then we may give them certain amino acids, such as melatonin, L-arginine, and L-lysine. My goal is to build a program that addresses the whole body, the particular cancer that my patients are dealing with, and their biochemical abnormalities.

Our patients all have different needs. One may have nausea. Another may have low energy, and yet another may not be sleeping. We need to highly individualize their treatments, as whenever we don’t, we end up alienating them and not having satisfying outcomes.

Herbs have multi-faceted beneficial effects upon cancer and the body. For example, people with cancer often have significant inflammation, as a result of chemotherapy agents, radiation, and the cancer itself. High doses of herbs such as curcumin and boswellia, as well as good quality fish oils with adequate amounts of EPA, can reduce that inflammation. But they, as well as many other herbs and natural agents, don’t just lower inflammation. They also potentiate chemotherapy, increase glutathione levels (which is important for detoxification), improve immune function, repair damaged cells, get liver detoxification pathways working better, down-regulate many cancer pathways, modulate hormones, and protect the bone marrow, among other things. It’s just beautiful, and the science behind them is incredible. I have learned so much about them from wonderful teachers like Donald Yance of the Mederi Foundation and his associates at the Centre for Natural Healing in
Ashland, Oregon, and have discovered that they really are a miracle.

To cite some other examples of how herbs benefit the body, mistletoe increases tumor necrosis factor, which is a pro-inflammatory chemical produced by white blood cells that has anti-cancer effects, but which also acts in a variety of other ways to induce cancer cell death; the vinca alkaloids of the Madagascar periwinkle function not only to disrupt cancer cell microtubules, but also to directly kill cancer cells, and Camptotheca inhibits a certain enzyme within the cancer cell which enables it to replicate itself. Some of these herbs form the basis of commonly used chemotherapy agents today, so, for example, if doctors give the herb Camptotheca in conjunction with the chemotherapy agent Irenotecan, it can act synergistically with that agent to lower the capacity of the cancer cell to multiply by inhibiting its DNA replication. The Pacific Yew, from which the taxanes are developed (taxanes are chemotherapy medications used to treat breast cancer), disrupts tubulin in cancer cells so that they die (tubulin is a constituent protein of the microtubules of cells, which provide a skeleton for maintaining cell shape and are thought to be involved in cell motility). In addition, pawpaw increases apoptosis, as do fish oils, which is one reason why it’s good for people with cancer to take significant amounts of a quality fish oil product containing at least 1500 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Most of the brands out on the market aren’t good, because they are often are contaminated with mercury or not well-prepared, so it’s important to do research in order to find the best one.

When selecting supplements, patients should remember three things. First, more isn’t necessarily better. Secondly, great variations in quality exist among the herbs and nutrients that are out on the market. Third, taking natural agents that are designed to be synergistic with other therapies often yields better treatment outcomes.

Many of the above-mentioned herbs are cytotoxic, and practitioners have discovered that if they add low doses of cytotoxic herbs, like
the Madagascar periwinkle, to their patients’ herbal protocols while they are doing chemotherapy, then their chemotherapy becomes more effective.

Also, most of the time, when a cancer grows, it invades the body’s connective tissue. So it’s important for doctors who use cytotoxic botanical remedies to simultaneously build their patients’ connective tissue with other herbs like Gotu Kola, which support and repair it.

Finally, many tumors, not just breast cancer, have estrogen receptors on them. If we do chemo sensitivity testing, we can discover whether a patient’s cancer has a lot of estrogen receptors on the surface of its cells. If it does, herbs such as chrysin and drugs such as Aromasin or Arimidex are excellent estrogen blockers. If we don’t address this aspect of treatment, the patient’s cancer cells will continue to grow, no matter what treatments we are doing.

In summary, herbs can act directly upon cancer in a myriad of ways: some increase tumor necrosis factor; others affect DNA replication, increase apoptosis, disrupt biochemical pathways in the cell, or prevent cancer cells from forming tubulin. Most disable cancer in a variety of ways and therefore are of great value when treating it.

A growing number of our patients arrive at our clinic with large bags of supplements that they are already taking and which they have acquired as a result of their cancer research. Many take fish oils and curcumin. Some take immune-supportive herbs and mushrooms. We are very happy to see this, because we believe that cancer care will evolve and produce good outcomes as a result of patients being proactive about research and doing treatments on their own. It isn’t the integrative oncologists who are going to evolve cancer care; the demand will come from the public understanding the importance of a low toxicity lifestyle and individualized care.

When cancer cells are killed, their toxic material has to be transported through the lymph, out of the body. Botanicals, minerals, and homeopathic remedies help to keep the liver, lymph, kidney, and other detoxification pathways open so that toxins can better exit the body. We recommend a wide variety of other treatments for detoxification, including castor oil packs, coffee enemas, infrared saunas, and homeopathic, botanical and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remedies. We use a myriad of substances to support the body’s major detoxification pathways, including the lymphatic system and biliary pathways. We want the skin to become a third kidney, because, like the kidneys, the skin is important for helping the body to rid itself of toxins.

Author Michael Pollan has three axioms regarding diet. He says, “Eat food, less of it, and more vegetables.” These three quick phrases comprise the prescription that I give my patients.

We put all of our patients on some version of the Mediterranean diet, which is comprised of small amounts of animal protein, such as wild fish and free range fowl, or goat’s cheese, along with lots of vegetables and small amounts of grains and fruit. This is our foundational diet. We then further individualize the diet according to our patients’ needs.

I base some of my dietary recommendations upon the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In TCM, the body is organized according to organ systems, and foods are thought to affect those systems in different ways. There are, for example, certain foods, such as eggs, walnuts and some fruits, which build kidney energy and in turn affect the health of the entire endocrine system. In TCM, the spleen network builds the immune system and helps the body to extract its nourishment from food. Wild salmon, halibut, yams, cooked cabbage, peas, and certain grains such as pearled barley, are examples of foods that support the spleen network and
build immune energy. Foods such as watercress, endive, some bitter herbs, and cilantro support the liver’s detoxification energy pathways. If patients are low on energy, this is often due to a deficiency in their kidneys’ energy network. Horseradish, mustard, nettles, dandelion greens, and artichoke can help build the body’s overall energy system.

I’m not big into a diet of exclusively raw foods. Certain people, for example, those who are thin and who would be considered as “yin” types in Chinese medicine, need to eat more cooked—and especially steamed—food. Other people, who have bone marrow problems as a result of chemotherapy, need to ingest bone marrow broth and add some astragalus to it. This can be prepared in a Crock-pot or other slow cooker using big cow bones and lots of vegetables.

I may recommend specific foods based on the type of cancer that my patients have, but in general, the above are my recommendations. We live in a society that is anxious about food, and this isn’t helpful, either. When patients follow our guidelines, and are able to stay on the medicinal smoothies, herbs, and other treatments that we recommend, and can tolerate these along with their low dose chemotherapy regimens, they generally have good outcomes. Fortunately, most patients tolerate both quite well.

There are four levels of food: the unhealthy, healthy, high quality, and super medicinal (like the smoothies). People with cancer should aim to get as many of the high quality and super medicinal foods as they can into their diets.

Our treatment outcomes don’t just depend upon the stage of cancer that patients have, but also the type of cancer, their mental and emotional state, and a variety of other factors.

Our goal with all of our patients is full remission, so that there is no longer any evidence of cancer in their bodies, and that they would remain this way for years, and enjoy a good quality of life. Of
course, some people with stage three or four cancers aren’t able to attain remission, but with our approach, they are able to live high-quality lives, even though they still have cancer. To illustrate, one of our colleagues has a patient who has lived with a stage four lung cancer for over ten years past her original diagnosis. Her doctors had told her that she was going to die within months, but she has been alive for a long time now and you can’t tell by looking at her that she has cancer. Only by looking at a chest x-ray or blood tests would you know. Of course, she takes a lot of botanical and nutrient capsules and tablets every day, but she doesn’t do chemotherapy anymore. I have a patient with multiple myeloma, who has so far survived and thrived for eight years beyond her initial diagnosis. She’s on an extensive, targeted, natural medicine program, and must take many pills and liquids daily. She also takes a drug called Thalidomide. When taken in low doses, this drug can be effective for some people with specific types of cancer. It’s important for her to take her medication because her myeloma was so advanced when she first came to see us that we couldn’t put it into remission. So while Thalidomide keeps her cancer in check and allows her to live a normal life, it also prevents her from going into remission. But again, she looks and feels good. She still has high immunoglobulin levels and abnormal cells in her blood that are characteristic of her cancer, but she is a healthy, strong, functioning, multiple myeloma patient who has been living for years, with no kidney damage, and who could continue to live for decades with her cancer.

Yet another patient of ours with stage four ovarian cancer, who had lots of fatigue and routinely had to have fluid drained from her abdomen, went into full remission after doing high frequency, low-dose IPT. After six months of treatment, she is now cancer-free. That means her scans and lab tests are normal. Why did she go into remission when another stage four patient didn’t? Many reasons exist, and it depends somewhat upon the type of cancer that patients have, the particular characteristics of that cancer, as well as their biochemistry and physiology. Ovarian cancer is susceptible to the right chemotherapy agents, but we find that if patients aren’t also put on a good natural treatment regimen, and if they don’t
continue with regular but infrequent IPT chemotherapy sessions, then this type of cancer will often come roaring back.