Special Information for Those with Cancer and Those who are in Remission
Following the 5-step Program of scientifically-based nutritional guidelines will make the cells far healthier and more resistant to cancer. But if you are already ill, a coordinated approach of the medical treatments recommended by your doctors along with this program will serve you best. Speed is often important in addressing cancer medically. Consult with your doctor for assistance in implementing these guidelines in conjunction with your medical treatment. If you had cancer and are in remission, all of Steps 1-5 can and should be applied in consultation with your physician or clinical nutritionist. Doing so can markedly increase your chances of preventing a recurrence. Of course, it is particularly important that you would want to both take supplements and eat protein from organic sources. Following are the top 5 reasons for involving an alternative physician in the treatment of cancer whether current or in remission.
REASON ONE. Chemotherapy and Radiation Induced Cancer Reduced 80-100%
Otto Warburg, M.D.,Ph.D., proved that a 35% reduction in oxygen caused any cell to either die or turn cancerous. Cancer is the body, at the cellular level, attempting to survive by reverting to a primitive survival mechanism. Surprisingly, it’s that simple. Most normal healthy cells get their energy by using oxygen in a process called “respiration.” This can be contrasted with the way cells utilize energy without sufficient oxygen, called “fermentation.” Fermentation of sugar provides a way for cells to keep going even in the presence of partial oxygen deprivation. In the presence of oxygen deficiency, cells that can’t obtain enough energy through fermentation perish. But the cells which succeed in utilizing fermentation exhibit their innate will to survive; these are the ones that don’t die from the oxygen deficiency.
As directed by Nature, in using this alternative source of energy, our cells are fulfilling their primary mission, which is to stay alive and reproduce. This takes place on all levels for all living things, and in the case of oxygen deficiency, cells are struggling to survive in a hostile environment of humans’ own making. That’s right we unknowingly have forced our own cells to become cancerous.
After it begins, the disease worsens, since most humans hosting it never feel the cancer growing and so we don’t take corrective measures. Once it shows up in lab tests, you’ve been hosting the cancer cells for years, often decades.
Nature has given every cell the potential to survive without oxygen, through fermentation. If that potential is not developed enough, then the cell will die when the oxygen drops below the 35% threshold. If none of our cells could run without oxygen, they would die immediately with no possible chance of future survival. Chronic deficiency of oxygen damages the mitochondria (energy producers) of the cell so the cell, if it can, reverts to the ancient energy source of fermentation of sugar. A cancer cell running on fermentation can stay alive (without growing) with just 20% of a normal cell’s energy.
But one major problem is that this method is very inefficient. The cells that can run on fermentation without oxygen stay alive and become more prevalent as the other cells die. But there is a huge price to be paid: lack of cellular intelligence-these cells have the intelligence of “dumb yeast” Cancer is not an “ultra intelligent” entity, as many misled researchers portray; instead, it is the “idiot cell” that can survive but do little more than reproduce more “idiot cells.” So these cells lose their differentiation as functional parts of the body and spread as useless masses of tissue, eventually interfering with and shutting down the body’s functions if nothing is done to prevent it.
Cancer is a Systemic Problem, Not a Local One. Many physicians think that cancer is a localized issue, meaning only the affected tissue is the problem because the genes are ruined there. This is incorrect. Cancer is not and has never been genetic in origin. What is correct is that the cancerous tissue is the MOST OXYGEN DEPRIVED TISSUE; that’s why that particular tissue became cancerous. However, you’ve got much more to worry about than only the one cancerous area. Many tissues are oxygen deprived along with the cancerous ones. I’d like to acknowledge Homer Macapintac, M.D., chair and professor of nuvlear medicine at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for stating this truth that women need to know: 1
Breast cancer is not a local problem. It is a systemic [whole body] disease.
Why are Cancers so resistant to treatment once they return years later? Oncologists will tell you that if cancer returns, then chemotherapy often won’t work again. It fails. The cancer will “outsmart it.” Never forget that cancer isn’t foreign, like a viral or bacterial invader. Therefore, there is nothing to “outsmart.” The reason for the returning cancer’s virulence requires understanding these technical points:
1. All cells respire, utilizing oxygen for energy. All cells can also ferment to a lesser or greater extent. This cellular capability to ferment existed from the beginning of time when life existed without oxygen.
2. Chemotherapy and radiation kill cells, both respiring (normal) ones, and cancerous (fermenting) ones. If respiration (oxygen transfer) falls below a specific minimum, even for a cancer cell, it will die. Normal cells survive chemo and radiation beter than cancer cells, because they start with a better respiration; therefore they have better residual respiration after chemo/radiation treatments.
3. However, during cancer’s latency period (the time where fermentation takes the place of the cells’ ruined respiration, causing full-blown cancer), the surviving descendents of the normal cells compensate for the decreased respiration with increased fermentation capability. Therefore, the cells that live and haven’t been killed are NOW prime candidates for a continued oxygen deficient environment. Lack of oxygen won’t kill these cells, because they thrive in a de-oxygenated environment. Therefore, they can easily become fully cancerous; they possess the EXACT CONDITIONS needed (high fermenting cellular capability bred through “treatment”) to cause more cancer in the future. The chemo and radiation will be much less effective this time around because we have created (through “treatment”) a more efficient cell that can better utilize fermentation with decreased respiration capability, i.e. cancer.
Remember, our cells are trying to stay alive, but they can’t get the necessary oxygen for respiration. In its absence, they run on sugar (carbohydrates), the energy source for fermentation. Cancer is the cells’ last ditch effort to survive. (And when cancer patients consume carbohydrates, they are feeding the cancer.)
How do we become oxygen deficient at the cellular level? Simple: through eating adultered oils and fats from the food processing industry and from your supermarket’s cooking oil section. These adultered oils have a long shelf-life but have lost their oxygenation ability. They started out containing the functional, vitally needed oxygen-transferring PEOs (Parent Essential Oils), but they were ruined by processing and refining. We are giving ourselves cancer by eating common, everyday processed foods. Transfats are only the “tip of the iceberg” of the methods used by food processors to obtain long shelf-life and ruin the oxygenation capability of fats.
Yet Nature, in her wisdom, has also provided us with an opportunity to fix the problem. Because full-blown cancer takes many years to develop, we have the opportunity to remedy the cells’ oxygen deficiency. The great news is that it has been proven that these pre-cancerous cells can be kept in check so they either stay benign or are killed as a result of the re-supply of cellular oxygen through sufficient amounts and proper ratio of PEOs.
Alternative Physicians accept that cancer is a systemic disease and strive to optimize oxygen transport and absorption across cell membranes to decrease cancer risk and recurrence.
REASON TWO. Adjunct Therapy Increases Effectiveness of both Chemotherapy and Radiation
Many readers unfortunately are undergoing treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. In May 2008 it was brought to my attention by the superb radiologist, Robert Kagan, M.D., Medical Director of MRI Scan & Imaging Centers in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, that increased cellular oxygen increases the effectiveness of both chemotherapy and radiation treatments in destroying cancer cells.
It was extremely gratifying to learn of this, since the Peskin Protocol was designed to increase cellular oxygen throughout the body, including at cancerous sites.
Therefore, in addition to the capability of increased oxygenation to prevent cancer’s initial occurrence
and to arrest it at existing sites, it also makes current oncological treatments more effective. Here’s what James B. Mitchell, Ph.D., head of the tumor biology (NCI-radiation biology branch) section at the National Cancer Institute, reported in an article published by Radiological Society of North America (4/23/2008):
• “…‘[T]hey were able to successfully measure oxygen levels in tumors,’ which could be important because ‘tumors with higher concentrations of oxygen [are] more susceptible to radiation.’
• “Lower oxygen level ‘in the tumor allows tumor cells to survive more easily by making the DNA destruction more difficult.’
• “‘Chemotherapy drugs also don’t work as well when tumors have less oxygen.’ ” (emphasis added)
I immediately began searching medical journal articles to see if this critical concept was well-understood. The following comments comprise a representative sample of what I found
• “A priori knowledge of spatial and temporal changes in partial pressure of oxygen (oxygenation; pO2) in solid tumors, a key prognostic factor in cancer treatment outcome, could greatly improve treatment planning in radiotherapy and chemotherapy.”2 (emphasis added)
• “Despite significant evidence of a role of hypoxia [low cellular oxygen] in cellular resistance to ionizing radiation–induced toxicity, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study focused on the influence of hypoxia on radiation-induced signals in TK6 human lymphoblastoid cells.3 (emphasis added)
• “A large body of published evidence points to tumor hypoxia as a major obstacle to effective treatment of tumors using ionizing radiation4,5 because cells exposed to radiation under hypoxic conditions are approximately thrice [3 times] more resistant than when treated under aerobic conditions.6 (emphasis added)
• “In an attempt to enhance the efficacy of clinical radiation therapy, hypoxic cells were a major target because it takes approximately three times the radiation dose to achieve the same proportion of cell survival under hypoxia compared to cells in normoxic [normal] conditions. The biochemical role of oxygen was in fixing, or making permanent, the damage done to the critical DNA target.7 (emphasis added)
• “Solid tumors frequently contain large regions with low oxygen concentrations (hypoxia). The hypoxic microenvironment induces adaptive changes to tumor cell metabolism, and this alteration can further distort the local microenvironment. The net result of these tumor specific changes is a microenvironment that inhibits many standard cytotoxic anticancer therapies [“chemotherapy”] and predicts for a poor clinical outcome.8(emphasis added)
• “Hypoxia and anemia (which contributes to tumor hypoxia) can lead to ionizing radiation and chemotherapy resistance by depriving tumor cells of the oxygen essential for the cytotoxic activities of these agents. Hypoxia may also reduce tumor sensitivity to radiation therapy and chemotherapy through one or more indirect mechanisms that include proteomic and genomic changes.9 (emphasis added)
• “Poor and fluctuating blood flow (which leads to acute hypoxia) as well as increased diffusion distances (which lead to chronic hypoxia) can result in the diminished and erratic distribution of chemotherapeutic agents, with a consequent effect on their therapeutic efficacy.10 (emphasis added)
• “Also, some chemotherapeutic agents, for example, cyclophosphamide, carboplatin (ParaplatinR; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Princeton, NJ), and doxorubicin (AdriamycinR; Bedford Laboratories; Bedford, OH), have been shown to be oxygen dependent under both in vivo [inside the body] and in vitro conditions.11,12,13,14,15 (emphasis added)
Only specific dietary changes can permanently affect oxygen transfer to cells. An Alternative Physician is trained in nutrition to understand the biochemical needs to optimize oxygen transport and absorption across cell membranes.
REASON THREE. Blood Speed and Viscosity Determine Risk of Metastases
Dr. Warburg understood that slow blood speed allowed cancer to metastasize. Later, other researchers showed that if you can keep a localized cancer from metastasizing, your risk of dying from cancer decreases by an amazing 10-fold! Even though you may have cancer, you won’t die from cancer. Blood speed and viscosity have a connection to the spread of cancer.
This is a surprising, seldom-mentioned fact that was pointed out by world-renowned molecular biologist Robert Weinberg, from my alma mater, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Weinberg was a former director of the Oncology Research Laboratory at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts and stated in his book:16 “Of those patients who succumb to cancer, fewer than 10% die from tumors that continue to grow at the same site where they originally took root. In the great majority of cases, the killers are the metastases—colonies of cancer cells that have left the site of the original, primary tumor and have settled elsewhere in the body. It is these migrants, or rather the new tumors that they seed, that usually cause death.”
What causes metastasis? Blood clots. This is known, too:17 “Dr. L. Michaels of Canada reasoned that if no clots were allowed to form, then metastasis from a primary tumor could not occur, and that people with only primary cancers would in that case be in a much safer situation. This he proved to be the case. He studied the medical histories of a large number of heart and stroke patients kept on permanent anti-coagulant drug treatment [anti-clotting] to protect their blood circulation, to ascertain the incidence of cancer deaths among them, and found the incidence to be only one-eighth of the expected number. The study covered the equivalent of 1569 patient-years and there was not a single case of death by cancer metastasis in the group.”
What prevents blood from “sticking together” and is also Nature’s natural blood-thinner that prevents blood clots? No, it’s not omega-3 like you are constantly told. Parent omega-6 is much more powerful. AA (arachadonic acid) is a critical omega-6 derivative and major biochemical component which occurs in virtually every cell we have. It is the building block of the most potent anti-aggretory (“helps blood thinning”) agent known, termed prostacyclin. AA also inhibits platelet adhesion making it a natural “blood thinner.” AA even helps SOLVE vascular problems as a response to injury.18
Specific dietary changes and specific supplements can significantly improve blood viscosity. Alternative Physicians are trained to implement the most effective drugless therapies to reduce risk of metastasis.
REASON FOUR. Sugar Feeds Cancer
Cancer cells can’t live on either fats or proteins. It is important to understand that cancer cells use carbohydrate as their primary source of fuel.19 Therefore, once cancer has begun to develop even a little, carbohydrate consumption can only worsen the cancer because it provides the sugar the cancer
cells need to live on. Any cancer patient should adhere to a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet.
The fact that cancer cells idolize sugar is well known. It was reported in “The Insulin Connection,” by Brenda Goodman in U.S. News & World Report,September 5, 2005, pages 60-62 that: “Cancer cells have six to ten times the number of insulin receptors…So, if extra hormone hits a pre-existing cancer cell, it makes a bad thing much worse.”
“ For cancer, insulin [a response from carbohydrate consumption] is like pouring gasoline on a fire,’ says Pamela Goodwin, director of the Marvelle Koffler Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.” Therefore, reducing consumption of sugar/carbohydrates significantly will deprive existing cancer cells of their “food” and help strengthen your body’s immune system.
In addition Dr. Warburg’s research showed that slowing the speed of blood flow can lead to cancer by reducing the amount of oxygen reaching the cells through the blood. The glucose from carbohydrates “sticks” to your blood protein. This sticking of glucose to your blood protein is technically termed “glycosylation” in the medical textbooks, and glycosylation slows down the blood flow. Therefore, an overabundance of carbohydrates in the diet will slow the speed of the bloodstream. This reduces the amount of oxygen reaching the cells and contributes to setting up the conditions under which cancer can develop.
Dr. Warburg said: “To prevent cancer it is therefore proposed first to keep the speed of the blood stream so high that the venous blood still contains sufficient oxygen; second, to keep high the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood…”
Diet does matter in the successful treatment and remission from cancer. Get your information from someone who believes and recognizes how important food choices are in the treatment and remission of cancer.
REASON FIVE. Nutrient Supplementation Increases Life Expectancy and Reduces Side Effects
by Charles B. Simone, M.MS., M.D.,with Nicole L. Simone, B.S.E., Charles B. Simone, II copyright© 1999 Simone Protective Cancer Center
Today’s oncology care
Although chemotherapy and radiation therapy continue to have a role in cancer treatment, they produce morbidity. Despite the introduction of radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy with biological response modifiers, despite CT scans, MR scans, and all the other new medical technology, lifespans for almost every form of adult cancer have remained constant, except cervical and lung cancer. This means, there has been no significant progress in cancer treatment.
Nutritional modification, including the use of antioxidants and other nutrients, and proper lifestyle factors can dramatically decrease morbidity and side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy as well as increase response rates. Some reports have shown that nutritional and lifestyle modification can actually increase survival. It has been proven that chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy reduce the serum levels of certain nutrients, especially antioxidants. The decreased levels of these antioxidants result from lipid peroxidation.
Do vitamins and minerals interfere with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy?
I am frequently asked this by patients because they have been advised not to take supplements during treatment. The scientific literature has clearly addressed this question:
•The early clinical studies were performed at the National Cancer Institute using an antioxidant called N-acetyl cysteine that was found to protect the heart from the cardiac toxicity of adriamycin, but did not interfere with the tumor-killing capability of the drug. An antioxidant, dexrazoxane (ICRF-187), protects the heart from the effects of adriamycin without affecting the antitumor effect. Cellular studies, animal studies, and human studies demonstrate that vitamins A, E, C, and K, beta-carotene and selenium, as single agents or in combination, all protect against the toxicity of adriamycin and enhance its cancer-killing effects.
•In vitro cellular studies and animal studies using vitamins C, A, K, E, D, B6, B12, beta-carotene, selenium, or cysteine as single agents or in combination given concomitantly with chemotherapy, or tamoxifen, or interferon alpha-2b, or radiation, or combinations of these modalities show the same effect: Increased tumor killing and increased protection of normal tissues.
•Human studies involving over 1,960 patients have been done using single or multiple nutrients in combination with systemic treatment and/or radiation treatment demonstrating that nutrients produce a higher response rate, lower side effects, and even increased survival.
•An increase in survival for cancer patients is uncommon with any treatment. But an increase in survival has been demonstrated for patients who received vitamin A or antioxidants in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This finding was observed for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, breast cancer, gastric cancer, oral cavity cancer, and upper aerodigestive cancers. Patients who were given beta-carotene and anthaxanthin while undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation lived longer with an increase in disease-free intervals. And antioxidant treatment with chemotherapy and radiation prolonged survival for patients with small cell lung cancer compared with patients who did not receive antioxidants.
•The effects of one chemotherapeutic agent, methotrexate, can be reversed with folinic acid, which is an analog of folic acid. Folic acid itself does not reverse methotrexate’s effects. In order to reverse the effects of methotrexate, folinic acid has to be given in high doses. Folinic acid cannot be obtained over-the-counter. It is only available by prescription.
Efficacy of Antioxidants
Antioxidants neutralize harmful chemicals called free radicals that occur in the body and constantly arise from fatty foods, smoking, alcohol, environmental pollutants, toxins, carcinogens, iron, smog, and radiation. Free radicals attack vital cell structures and cause damage contributing to the development of certain disease (i.e., cancer, cardiovascular, arthritis, cataracts).
Antioxidants protect normal cells and other tissues by fighting free radicals and the oxidative reaction that is caused by free radicals. Antioxidant nutrients include beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, selenium, copper, zinc, bioflavonoids, and cysteine. There are now more than 200 studies that shown antioxidants can help decrease the risk of developing cancer.
One of the most recent investigations took place in Linxian, China. Researchers from the Cancer Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences teamed up with researchers at the United States National Cancer Institute and studied nearly 30,000 adults, randomized over a five-year period into four different groups receiving different nutrients during that period. Here is a brief summary of the study:
•It was the first large-scale intervention trial in a prospective randomized fashion to demonstrate that three antioxidant nutrients together-beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium-significantly reduced total mortality (9%) especially from all cancers (13%) and particularly stomach cancer (21%).
•These antioxidant nutrients also prevented the risk of cancer in humans.
•These antioxidant nutrients substantially reduced the prevalence of cataracts in the oldest patients (aged 65 to 74 years).
•These antioxidant nutrients also reduced the mortality from stroke. Many other studies demonstrated similar findings, including the Finland Study, the Switzerland Study, the Hawaiian Study, and studies involving people at high risk for developing endometrial cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, small cell lung cancer, oral pharyngeal cancer, and others. All studies show that protection is conferred to those who consume antioxidants and other nutrients.
Studies of pre-cancerous conditions
Scores of studies, from all over the world, have shown that antioxidants can decrease the risk of pre-cancerous lesions from developing into a full-blown cancer.
The Linxian, China study investigated 3,300 patients with esophageal dysplasia which is a precursor to developing esophageal cancer. The same team of researchers from China and the United States examined the results of the study, which was an intervention study, the best type of clinical design. The group that received the multiple vitamin-mineral supplement daily for six years had:
Lower mortality from esophageal and upper stomach cancers (8%)
Lower mortality rate in general (7%)
Lower rate of death from cancer in any site (4%)
Lower risk of dying of a stroke (38%)
While the duration of this trial was very short (six years) and the doses of the nutrients were far too low compared to other trials, the patients who took the supplements had much better results than the control group of patients who took no supplements. Other studies show that people who have colon polyps, abnormal cervical Pap smears, or other pre-cancerous conditions, all do better and can reverse the trend toward a cancer if they take certain antioxidants and other nutrients.
But what about beta-carotene specifically? There have been reports from the CARET and ATBC studies that beta-carotene increased the incidence of lung cancer in heavy smokers who drank alcohol and were exposed to asbestos. I want to address this issue with the following thoughts:
Over 200 studies have demonstrated that beta-carotene is safe and can lower the risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular disease.
All intervention studies show that beta-carotene and other nutrients can decrease cancer rates and cancer progression.
A total of 22 epidemiological studies that included 400,000 smokers and nonsmokers have shown those who had a high blood level of beta-carotene had a lower incidence and mortality of lung cancer. None of these studies reported any association with an increased incidence of lung cancer. In fact, the reduction in risk was even more pronounced in smokers than in nonsmokers.
The principal investigator has publicly said that the findings are too preliminary to discuss and the data were not statistically significant.
The smokers in these studies who had high beta carotene serum levels at the start of the study had the lowest incidence of lung cancer.
Most of the study participants were alcoholics, and all of them ate a high fat diet – both risk factors dramatically and independently increase the risk of developing cancer.
Beta carotene did not increase the risk of lung cancer for those who smoked less than 20 cigarettes a day and drank little or no alcohol.
To my knowledge, no information was gathered concerning other lifestyle risk factors that also would contribute to a poor outcome.
Beta-carotene works most efficiently at the early stages of carcinogenesis, not at the later stages when a cancer is already formed – as was the case with the patients in the CARET and ATBC studies. Cancers are started between 10 and 20 years before symptoms occur or our technology can detect them.
The fact remains, beta-carotene:
Is the most powerful antioxidant.
Neutralizes singlet oxygen, a powerfully damaging chemical.
Enhances immune system function.
Is very safe and nontoxic.
It is important to rely on the synergism of all the antioxidants, including the carotenoids, and also the B’s, etc., as well as lifestyle changes to decrease one’s risk of cancer and heart disease. It is foolish to expect that a single nutrient can give the “green light” to continue lifestyle behavior that will cause disease.
Conclusion
Nutrition and lifestyle factors can profoundly reduce toxic side effects and improve the results of conventional treatments. In a recent study of 50 patients with early stage breast cancer, I evaluated the treatment side effects of radiation alone, or radiation combined with chemotherapy, while the patient took therapeutic doses of nutrients. Patients also followed the Simone Ten Point Plan (see Table 1). The patients were asked to evaluate their own response to the treatment in terms of impacts of treatment on their quality of life. The major rationale behind our nutritional plan is that it contains a well-rounded supply of antioxidants and immune enhancing nutrients. The results of the study were impressive:
More than 90% of both groups noted improvement in their physical symptoms, cognitive ability, performance, sexual dysfunction, general well-being, and life satisfaction.
Not one subject in either group reported a worsening of symptoms. Patients who follow the Ten Point Plan and use certain vitamins and minerals report few side effects from chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Twenty studies with more than 2,700 patients that investigated lifestyle modification that includes dietary changes, nutrient supplementation, and other lifestyle changes demonstrated a lower recurrence rate and an increase in survival. The patients in these studies had the following cancers: breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine, head and neck, lung, pancreatic, prostate, and bladder.
Cancer patients should modify their lifestyles using the Ten Point Plan, which includes modifying nutritional factors and taking certain vitamins and minerals, especially if they are receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation. The studies indicate that it is important to take the correct nutrients to reduce side effects, enhance conventional therapies, and increase outcomes (table 2).
“WHY YOU NEED ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE EVEN WITH CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION” section is based on information in the new book, The Hidden Story of Cancer, authored by Brian Peskin. For further information see www.BrianPeskin.com.
“REASON FIVE. Nutrient Supplementation Increases Life Expectancy and Reduces Side Effects” section is provided by Charles B. Simone, M.MS., M.D.,with Nicole L. Simone, B.S.E., Charles B. Simone, II copyright© 1999 Simone Protective Cancer Center. For more information and the Ten Point Plan see www.drsimone.com
