Category Archives: Alternative Cancer Treatment

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Care Tips

Melanoma Treatment Breakthrough with Immunotherapy

A Break Trough in Immunotherapy
A Break Trough in Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy continues to prove itself an effective weapon in the fight against cancer. Recent studies show that treatment can produce lasting remission in patients suffering with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Leading pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb conducted testing of nivolumab, a member of a new class of immunotherapies. Its purpose is to disable a protein called PD-1 which restricts the body’s own immune system from attacking cancer cells.

Phase 1 of the trial involved 107 advanced melanoma patients whose cancer had spread to other areas despite treatment with traditional drugs. These patients received nivolumab via intravenous infusions during alternating weeks for periods of up to 96 weeks.

Median life expectancy for people with advanced melanoma is one year. Follow-up studies after treatment with the nivolumab found that 62 percent of the patients were alive, with 43 percent surviving after two years. Researchers are encouraged by the fact that the immunotherapy continued to show positive results even after treatment concluded. The data also suggests that therapy during earlier stages can be even more effective.

Bristol-Myers is continuing Phase 3 trials with nivolumab that focus on other forms of cancer such as lung and kidney cancer. In some cases, testing is using a combination therapy including ipilimumab, another of the new immunotherapies that works on disabling a different cell receptor.

Issels natural cancer treatment is based on more than 60 years of successful experience using integrative immunotherapy. Patients receive personalized protocols created to address their unique needs. Please contact us to learn more about our treatment centers and programs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy

New Focus on Colorectal Cancer Treatments

Cancer Treatment
Cancer Treatment

Integrative medical treatments for colorectal cancer were the subject of a recent episode of Fox News’ Sunday Housecall. Advancements in integrative immunotherapy, cancer vaccines and advanced targeted therapies have more patients – and their doctors – incorporating alternative cancer therapies into their treatment protocols for colorectal cancer and many other forms of cancer.

Patients are looking for non-toxic cancer treatment options that don’t have the debilitating side effects of the big three treatment standards — surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. They are finding the options they seek in individualized cancer therapies grounded in integrative immunotherapy. The unique complexities of colorectal cancer and other forms of gastrointestinal cancer particularly lend themselves to individualized cancer treatment protocols. Also of note is the effectiveness of cancer vaccines in the treatment of colorectal cancer, specifically autologous dendritic cell vaccines.

While considered a largely preventable cancer, colorectal cancer often goes undetected in its early stages. It may be several years before patients present symptoms. Symptoms can vary with the location of the tumor but may include fatigue, weakness, abdominal pain, weight loss, shortness of breath, spastic colon, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, peptic ulcers, bloody stool, diarrhea or constipation.

Diet education is part of Issels’ holistic approach to cancer treatment. To help prevent colorectal cancer, a diet rich in fiber and colorful fruits and vegetables is recommended. Choose deeply pigmented foods such as blueberries, cranberries, pomegranates, carrots, red peppers, kale, broccoli, spinach and red cabbage.

Visit our website to find out more about Issels integrative immunotherapy program for the treatment of cancer and other immune diseases. We offer a full spectrum of alternative cancer treatments and immune disease therapies at our inpatient clinic in Tijuana, Mexico and the comprehensive immunobiologic core treatment at our outpatient medical center in Santa Barbara, California.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

New Research Changes Our Understanding of How Cancer Metastasizes

Doctor Listening to Patient
Doctor Listening to Patient

For decades researchers in the lab have studied cancer cells in flat, shallow Petri dishes. As a result, assumptions about how cancer behaves in the body have been based on two-dimensional models. Now, new research is turning long-held beliefs about cancer upside down. Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that cancer actually moves quite differently in the three-dimensional human body than it does in the lab.

How Cancer Spreads in 3D vs. 2D Models

In two-dimensions cancer cells move in a slow, aimless fashion called a “random walk.” Until now researchers had assumed that cancer cells moved in the same random way in the three-dimensional human body, making it virtually impossible to determine where cancer might land when it metastasizes.

The new findings indicate that cancer cells are more directional than random when moving through three-dimensional spaces like the human body. New 3D modeling may allow cancer experts to predict the most likely path of metastasis should cancer spread.

How Cancer Cells Move Explained

“Cancer cells that break away from a primary tumor will seek out blood vessels and lymph nodes to escape and metastasize to distant organs,” Denis Wirtz, director of Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences Oncology Center, explained on HUB. “For a long time, researchers have believed that these cells make their way to these blood vessels through random walks. In this study, we found out that they do not. Instead, we saw that these cells will follow more direct, almost straight-line trajectories. This gives them a more efficient way to reach blood vessels—and a more effective way to spread cancer. This means that the time these cancer cells need to make their way out of connective tissues is much shorter than previous estimates.”

The new 3D model may lead to more effective advanced targeted immune therapies and cancer vaccines designed to protect against metastasis.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

BPA Linked to Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Treatment
Prostate Cancer Treatment

BPA is back in the news. This time industrial chemical Bisphenol-A has been linked to prostate cancer. Two years ago, fear about BPA’s effect on infants and young children caused the Food and Drug Administration to ban its use in baby bottles, infant formula packaging and children’s cups. However, the agency ruled there was not enough scientific evidence to ban BPA’s use in food packaging. Since then, despite public demands and introduction of several bills, Congress has failed to pass legislation banning BPA in food packaging.

Prostate Cancer Danger

Already associated with breast cancer, diabetes, obesity and hormonal abnormalities in children, BPA, which mimics estrogen when it enters the human body, has now been linked to prostate cancer. Researchers at the Cincinnati Cancer Center found that men with prostate cancer exhibited BPA levels in their urine that were two to four times greater than men who were cancer free. More importantly, BPA levels were highest in younger men under 40 who are typically at lower risk of developing prostate cancer. In animal research, BPA has triggered prostate tumor development and growth.

“BPA may potentially contribute to either the development or progression of prostate cancer, or the BPA is more predictive of cancer,” study leader Dr. Shuk-mei Ho told Newsweek. Noting that the Cincinnati study was small in scope, Ho said immediate, larger studies are needed.

Chelation Therapy Removes Toxins

When integrated into Issels’ integrative immunotherapy core program, chelation therapy may aid treatment of BPA-linked prostate cancer. An alternative cancer treatment designed to eliminate undesirable substances from the body, chelation removes heavy metals, chemical toxins, mineral deposits and fatty plaques that may contribute to cancer growth. For more information about chelation and other alternative cancer treatments, visit our website.

Alternative Cancer Treatment

Big Pharma Failure Shows Value of Multifaceted Approach to Cancer Treatment

The Old Is Now New
The Old Is Now New

“Everything old is new again” might be one of the themes of modern cancer research. Repeatedly, cancer researchers in the U.S. and Western Europe are finding validity in many of the “old” methods of treating cancer and embracing them as “new” discoveries. Integrated immunotherapy, which Issels Integrative Oncology Centers have practiced for more than 60 years, is a notable example.

Big Pharma Fails Again

That the body’s own immune system holds the key to defeating cancer is an idea only recently embraced by a Western medical community that many believe relies too heavily on Big Pharma. But as the recent clinical trial failure of yet another cancer drug touted by its maker as “a potential blockbuster” indicates, cancer patients may be placing their lives at risk by failing to broaden their treatment plans to include alternative cancer treatment options.

The Issels Difference

At Issels alternative cancer treatment centers, our experienced cancer specialists take a holistic approach to fighting cancer that treats the patient’s body, mind and spirit. Central to our cancer-fighting strategy are treatments designed to bolster and restore the body’s immune, regulatory and repair mechanisms and enhance their ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Personalized Treatment

We recognize that each patient’s case is unique. Just as cancer is not a single disease, we know from our extensive clinical experience that each patient’s response to cancer and cancer treatment will be unique. Using special testing methods, including genomic testing, our experts personalize the Issels immunobiologic core treatment program to the specific needs of each individual patient.

Rather than limiting cancer treatment to surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as is common among practitioners of Western medicine, Issels integrative immunotherapy, which can be used alone or with traditional treatments, expands cancer treatment, increasing the patient’s opportunities for long-term cancer remission.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Three Lifestyle Strategies Can Decrease Cancer Risk

Diet and Health Can Prevent Cancer
Diet and Health Can Prevent Cancer

Three lifestyle strategies that have already been found to lower heart disease and diabetes risk are also proving effective in cutting cancer risk. While smoking is the leading preventable cause of cancer, three lifestyle choices – poor diet, excess weight and inadequate physical activity — have been linked to nearly a third of all cancer cases, according to a joint policy report by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research.

The recently released Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study found that cancer risk could be lowered significantly by following the American Cancer Society’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. In tracking more than 65,000 post-menopausal women over a 12-year period, researchers found that women who closely followed the ACS guidelines were able to lower their overall cancer risk by 17% and even more dramatically decrease their risk of two specific cancers, cutting breast cancer risk by 22% and colorectal cancer risk by 52%. One of the significant discoveries of the study was that cancer risk could be significantly decreased even when healthy lifestyle changes where implemented later in life when cancer risk typically rises.

The “Magic 3” lifestyle choices for lowering cancer risk are:

• Weight. Maintain a healthy weight throughout your life.

• Diet. Eat a diet rich in plant-based and whole-grain foods.

• Exercise. At least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a day is recommended.

The lifestyle changes promoted by the American Cancer Society help your body build and maintain a healthy immune system which is most likely responsible for their success in decreasing cancer risk. The body’s immune system plays a critical role in fighting cancer cells. In the same way that immunotherapy bolsters the body’s innate ability to fight cancer, boosting the body’s immune system may also help prevent cancer.