Category Archives: Cancer Research

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Survivors

Chemo to Arrest Childhood Cancers Comes with Adult Health Risks

Children Cancer Survivors at Risk for Adulthood Diseases
Children Cancer Survivors at Risk for Adulthood Diseases

A disturbing new study has found that the majority of childhood cancer survivors who undergo chemotherapy have a high risk of developing chronic, life-threatening diseases as adults. Equally disturbing is the fact that these problems go undetected until they reach advanced stages, placing childhood cancer survivors at critical risk. The unfairness of the situation is not lost on childhood cancer survivors.

In a landmark study of more than 1,7000 adults who were patients at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, two-thirds of chemotherapy patients developed chronic, life-threatening conditions as adults. Of those long-deferred chemo side effects, 90% of heart conditions and 55% of lunch problems had gone undetected by the individuals’ healthcare providers until revealed by the study.

Researchers traced part of the problem to failure to transfer medical records between pediatricians and general practitioners as childhood cancer survivors entered their adult years.

“Survivors of childhood cancer, once they graduate from pediatric programs, they’re going into a community where medical providers are not going to be aware of their unique health risks,” Dr. Melissa Hudson, the study’s co-author told CBS News. (Click the link to watch the report by Dr. John LaPook.)

With nearly 400,000 childhood cancer survivors in the U.S. alone, these delayed side-effects of chemotherapy present a serious health threat that has many questioning the use of traditional cancer treatment methods which bludgeon the body with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Growing concern about the effects of chemotherapy have more people considering the advanced alternative cancer treatments offered at Issels Integrative Oncology cancer treatment centers that work to build up the body’s immune system instead of tearing it down.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

‘Smart Bomb’ Therapy Harnesses Immune System to Kill Cancer

Smart bomb therapy targets cancer cells
Smart bomb therapy targets cancer cells

Cancer researchers have been successful in using the body’s own immune system to deliver killing toxins directly to cancer cells to kill them. In what Duke Cancer Institute researches describe as “smart bomb” therapy, they have designed an antibody that binds only to certain breast cancer tumor cells, delivering its toxic payload directly into tumor cells while leaving healthy cells untouched and intact. The innovative cancer cell therapy effectively kills cancer cells from the inside out.

Lead Duke researcher, Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, director of Duke’s breast cancer program, reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that the new smart bomb therapy was successful in use on patients with advanced and metastic breast cancer. Using targeted cell therapy to deliver toxins to a specific target spared patients many of the debilitating side effects typically associated with chemotherapy. (Click here for therapy specifics on Time.com.) Currently, the Duke therapy only works on HER2-positive breast tumors, but Blackwell and her team hope to expand the treatment’s effectiveness to other tumors.

Cancer cell therapy is considered one of the most promising developments in immunotherapy cancer treatments. However, Dr. Blackwell believes that targeted cancer cell therapy could prove most effective when combined with integrative immunotherapy that strengthens the entire immune system. She told Time she believes her smart bomb therapy was so effective “because we spared the immune system.” Her goal is to create immune-assisted cancer treatments that harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer without weakening that system with chemotherapy, eventually phasing out chemotherapy altogether.

“I’m convinced that my patients’ immune systems are fighting cancer as much as anything we can give them to battle the cancer,” Dr. Blackwell told Time.

For more than 60 years, Issels’ cancer treatments have pioneered the use of integrative immunotherapy and targeted cancer cell therapy to fight advanced-stage cancers with unique success.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, News

Cancer Treatment Revolution Could End Chemotherapy

New Cancer Treatment to Null and Void Chemotherapy
New Cancer Treatment to Null and Void Chemotherapy

A cancer treatment revolution could spell the end of chemotherapy and the horrific side effects it visits on cancer patients. As reported by Time magazine, two studies recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a radically different type of anti-cancer treatment was able to achieve an astounding 83% survival rate for leukemia patients after only 2 years of treatment.

The success of the new cancer therapies could ring chemo’s death knell, an event that will not be mourned by cancer patients. Chemotherapy’s virulent side effects wreak a heavy toll on most cancer patients. Many consider the cure to be nearly as bad as the disease.

The new cancer treatments follow in the footsteps of imatinib, or Gleevec, the first mainstream cancer drug to deviate from chemotherapy’s drastic annihilation approach to cancer treatment. Following a kinder, gentler cancer treatment path, in 2001, imatinib reported similar survival rates for patients suffering from myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).

“I think we are definitely moving farther and farther away from chemotherapy, and more toward molecularly targeted therapy,” Dr. Martin Tallman, chief of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s leukemia service, told Time.

Unlike chemotherapy which kills both good and bad cells, evolving targeted cancer therapies take aim only at the specific pathways tumor cells need to thrive. Surrounding healthy tissues are not affected which means fewer side effects and complications for cancer patients. Standard cancer therapies are gradually moving toward the type of individually-tailored, targeted cancer therapies that Issels Integrative Oncology Centers have been offering cancer patients for decades.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Foods that Decrease Skin Cancer Risk

Frequent and liberal application of broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum SPF has been proven to help prevent skin cancer (click the link for full details), but there are also certain foods that can boost your body’s natural ability to protect itself against skin cancer. If you are a skin cancer or melanoma survivor, adding these foods to your diet may help increase your protection against recurring incidents of skin cancer.

Foods That Reduce Cancer
Foods That Reduce Cancer
  • Grapes have been found to offer strong natural protection against the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays which are a primary cause of skin  cancer. Researchers at the University of Barcelona in Spain discovered that naturally-occurring compounds in grapes called flavonoids protect skin cells from UV radiation.
  • Milk Thistle contains the plant extract silibinin which University of Colorado researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have found has the ability to kill skin cells that have been mutated by UVA radiation, the type that causes skin cancer. If they do not die, mutated cells typically turn cancerous. Silibinin also protects the skin from sunburn-causing UVB  radiation, offering a double-dose of protection.
  • Strawberries have photo-protective properties that offer natural UV ray protection, according to a study conducted at the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Italy. These berries also contain powerful antioxidants that promote cell survival and minimize DNA damage.
  • Coffee lowered the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer by 11% in a study conducted by researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit. The more coffee you drink, the greater the protection. In the study, drinking 6 cups of coffee boosted skin cancer protection to 36%. Researchers suspect caffeine kills sun-damaged cells.
Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Lung Cancer Is Deadliest Cancer

Lung Cancer the Most Deadly Cancer
Lung Cancer the Most Deadly Cancer

With all the publicity breast cancer and prostate cancer receive, many people assume they are the top cancer killers in the U.S. While breast and prostate cancers are the two most frequently diagnosed cancers, lung cancer, only third in number of diagnoses, actually kills twice as many people as its more common cousins.

Current and former smokers comprise the majority of lung cancer victims, but non-smokers are also at risk, particularly if they have lived with a smoker or worked in a smoke-filled environment. In some cases, the dangers of second-hand smoke can elevate cancer risk to the same level of cigarette smokers.

The bad news for lung cancer victims is that the 15% 5-year survival rate has remained unchanged over the past four decades, despite the tremendous progress in cancer diagnosis and treatment that has resulted in greatly improved cancer survival rates for many other types of cancer.

Symptoms that mimic common respiratory illnesses and the late arrival of symptoms make early detection of lung cancer difficult. Researchers have been working to develop better screening procedures that could prompt earlier lung cancer discovery and treatment. At Stanford University, researchers have had some success using a lung CT scan to diagnose lung cancer. Among study participants, early detection improved lung cancer survival rates by 20%, but the high level of false positives (95%) remains problematic.

The advanced alternative cancer treatments developed by Issels Integrative Oncology have been instrumental in helping many lung cancer patients achieve complete, long-term remission of advanced lung cancer. Visit our website for case studies and patient stories.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

The Benefits of Tea in Preventing Cancer

Positive Effects of Tea With Cancer
Positive Effects of Tea With Cancer

In the great debate over which is better for you — coffee or tea — both offer excellent health benefits, including the ability to help prevent certain types of cancer. For cancer survivors and those actively fighting cancer, the substances in coffee and tea may give your immune system a boost and improve mind-body function, particularly your ability to cope with cancer-related stress.

In our previous post we discussed the benefits of coffee; today we focus on the cancer-fighting benefits of tea (some findings may be preliminary or based on small patient samplings, but all offer promising avenues for further research). It should be noted that while herbal teas may confer their own benefits, they do not offer the benefits noted below.

Tea. Many people find the ritual of drinking tea to be a relaxing and comforting experience. There is a mindfulness to “having a cuppa” that creates a feeling of harmony between mind and body.

  • Antioxidants. Tea contains high concentrations of free radical-neutralizing antioxidants. Free radicals can cause cell damage that contributes to the development of all types of cancers. When possible choose green tea which contains the highest concentration of polyphenol antioxidants.
  • Skin cancer. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of tea may help protect your skin against sun damage, decreasing your risk of skin cancer.
  • Breast cancer. In studies, drinking green tea was associated with lower breast cancer risk. Tea can interfere with chemotherapy drugs, so talk to your oncologist.

Tea and coffee offer general benefits in the battle against cancer; whereas Issels’ cancer vaccines are formulated to provide specifically targeted cancer-fighting results.