Tag Archives: alternative cancer treatment

Nanoparticles: Attacking Cancer from All Angles

Attacking Cancer From All Sides
Attacking Cancer From All Sides

The second leading cause of death in the U.S., the fight against cancer needs all the weapons in its arsenal that it can get. Step-in nanoparticles, tiny but tough tools ready for battle in the war.

An enormous job for infinitesimal workers: Nanotechnology in early cancer detection
Targeted delivery of specific nanoparticles to a tumor site can induce a reaction with cancer cells, prompting the body to significantly increase the production of biomarkers necessary for cancer identification. Earlier detection and diagnosis allow less burdensome treatments, offers a faster diagnosis than biopsies, and increases chances of recovery.

Miniature mappers: Nanoparticles in imaging
Nanoparticles engineered with magnetic properties are effective imaging agents when used with MRI scans. Nanites bind particularly well with tumors, allowing a very high resolution, clear map of cancerous sites for the planning of surgical removal or treatment.

Small but mighty: Nanites in cancer therapy and drug delivery
A revolutionary new technology in the fight against cancer, nanoparticles are capable of a variety of attacks against this deadly disease. Nanites can be injected into a tumor to produce heat, allowing for the destruction of cancer cells locally with X-rays, magnetic fields, or light; They can be used to encapsulate chemotherapy drugs or genes for localized delivery and a significant reduction in quantity of drugs as well as a reduction in side effects and impact on healthy tissue; and more, including an array of up-and-coming technology (LINK TO GOOGLE ARTICLE) currently under development.

Don’t stand on the sidelines in the fight against cancer. Learn more about how technology at Issels Integrative Oncology can help you today.

Tips to Boosting Weight Gain for Cancer Patients

peanut butter sandwich
Try to add calories as you can with easy to eat foods.

While eating is generally (and correctly) thought of by most as a pleasurable activity, its primary function is to provide your body with fuel and nutrients. This aspect becomes even more crucial when you’re undergoing cancer treatment. You may actually be losing weight at a time when it’s important to keep up your strength.

Eating properly boosts your energy levels, prevents muscle loss and fortifies your immune system.

Use these helpful tips to maintain a nutritious diet along with a healthy weight.

• It’s a basic formula: eating calorie-dense foods will make your weight go up. If you want to gain weight, add 500 to 1,000 calories to your normal daily intake. If your goal is maintenance, 15 calories per pound is a good rule of thumb.

• Protein is the building block of muscles. Rich sources include peanut butter, meats and seafood, nuts and cheese. If your system can’t tolerate high-protein foods, try low-fat cottage cheese, milk and yogurt. Protein powder is another method to increase your intake.

• Fruits and vegetables are chock-full of valuable vitamins and minerals. Choose dried fruits and 100 percent fruit juices along with starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, corn and peas.

•  The American Cancer Society advises that it’s best to eat before you begin to feel hungry. If nausea is a problem, stick with sandwiches and other cold or room-temperature foods that don’t require cooking.

Our alternative cancer treatment includes non-toxic therapies with fewer side effects, making it easier to eat a healthy diet and maintain your weight. Visit our website to read real-life success stories from our patients.

What Exactly Is a Cytokine and How Is It Used in Cancer Treatment?

Its Good
It’s Good

Cytokines are certain substances secreted by specific cells in your body’s immune system. These substances carry the signals that allow cells to communicate with each other. Cytokines may be proteins, peptides or glycoproteins and can interact with your immune system in both positive and negative ways.

What Cytokines Do

Cytokines may act to either enhance or suppress your immune system. Their impact on cell function may be felt locally or at a distance in another part of your body. Despite such functional differences, all cytokines share in the direction of your body’s immune response.

It is that ability to impact the functioning of your immune system that makes cytokines such an important factor in cancer treatment. By manipulating cytokines, integrative immunotherapy seeks to modify the dialog between cells. By changing the way cells interact, the goal of integrative immunotherapy is to remove impediments to a healthy immune system and amplify the body’s immune system response.

Using Cytokines in Cancer Treatment

Certain cancer drugs and cancer vaccines have been found to have a noticeable impact on cytokine production. Using vaccines to increase the presence of specific biologic response modifiers such as Interleukin-2 — which the body creates naturally but only in small amounts — floods the body with cancer fighting T-cells and Natural Killer Cells. This sudden influx of immune system-supporting cytokines significantly enhances your immune system’s response, giving it extra power to fight off cancer cells.

Over 60 years of clinical experience, Issels Integrative Oncology has found similar cancer-fighting benefits in other cytokines such as Interleukin-4, which promotes the generation of dendritic cells, and Interleukin-21, which enhances Natural Killer Cell activity. Visit our website for more information.

Cancer Drug Research Will Change Lives in the Future

Cancer Drug Research
Cancer Drug Research

Cancer drug research is moving medicine toward a new frontier of personalized cancer treatment that is expected to change our lives for the better in the not too distant future. Tremendous strides in genetic and cellular research have vastly extended our knowledge about how cancer attacks and spreads on the cellular level, opening new avenues for cancer research and potential treatments.

Targeting Cancer Triggers

Focusing cancer research on genetic and cellular behavior has revealed the existence of specific genes and proteins that affect cell growth and development. When these genetic switches malfunction, uncontrolled cell growth can occur which can lead to the development of cancer tumors can occur. Recent cancer news indicates that drug manufacturers are racing to develop new cancer drugs designed to target these cancer triggers and turn them off. The first of this new wave of cancer drugs is beginning to reach the marketplace and early cancer news reports are promising.

Personalized Cancer Treatment

As cancer drugs become more effective in isolating and neutralizing genetic and cellular cancer triggers, personalized cancer treatments are expected to become the norm. If, as many believe, personal genome mapping becomes commonplace in the future; cancer specialists will be able to order personalized cancer treatments based on your own genetic code.

At the Issels Centers in Tijuana, Mexico and Santa Barbara, California, we recognize that every patient is unique and that each individual’s response to cancer is equally unique. Cancer demands an individualized response. Our highly personalized cancer treatment protocols have produced an admirable record of complete long-term remissions of advanced and standard therapy-resistant cancers. Visit our website to hear what our patients have to say.

Three Foods That May Boost Your Immune System

Immune System Building Foods
Immune System Building Foods

The cells in your immune system are like an army that protects your body against disease. Whether your body is fighting a virus, bacteria or cancer cells, your immune system serves as your body’s first line of defense. It is your immune cells that seek out and attack cancer and disease cells.

Since an army marches on its stomach, it’s important to feed your immune system fighters well. To keep your immune system in peak fighting shape, a Mediterranean diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on fish and lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy oils is generally recommended today.

Boost Your Immune System

  • Fresh fruits and vegetables contain important vitamins, antioxidants and micronutrients that feed the body’s immune system. For a healthy immune system, make citrus fruits, berries, carrots, tomatoes and cruciferous vegetables part of your daily diet.
  • Fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids help fuel a healthy immune system. Omega 3 rich fish include salmon, sardines, mackerel, black cod, anchovies, albacore tuna, rainbow trout, and halibut.
  • Dairy products fortified with vitamin D. Vitamin D helps regulate cell growth and may impact the growth of cancer cells. For extra benefit, choose dairy products that contain some fat. Dairy fat helps the body absorb carotenoids, antioxidants in vegetables that have been linked to good immune system health. Triple your immune boost by eating yogurt which contains probiotics in addition to dairy fat and vitamin D.

At Issels Integrative Oncology, nutritional immunotherapy to improve immune system function is offered as part of our immunobiologic core cancer treatment program. Contact us today to learn how integrative immunotherapy can benefit your cancer treatment plan.

September Cancer News Roundup

Cancer News Round Up
Cancer News Round Up

Everyday, doctors and scientists uncover exciting breakthroughs and hopeful insights for improved cancer treatment. Here’s a look at some of the latest highlights of cancer news:

Integrative Methods Becoming Mainstream

Patients with advanced forms of cancer and those struggling with the side effects of traditional medicine treatments increasingly turn to integrative methods. CURE Magazine recently profiled the cases of patients who have received Eastern-style therapy and other complementary methods, pointing out the difference between unproven medical care and accepted forms of holistic cancer treatment.

Vitamin D Holds Promise for Skin Cancer

Research from the University of Connecticut suggests that vitamin D may hold the key to creating new drugs for skin cancer treatment.

Making Medicine from Bee Venom

Scientists separating the components of honeybee toxins believe that the proteins and peptides present in bee venom may be able to treat breast cancer cells.

Sigmoidoscopy Effective for Colon Cancer Screenings

The flexible sigmoidoscope, a shorter and thinner alternative to the colonoscope, has been found effective as a colorectal cancer screening tool by researchers in Norway. The device, which is thinner and shorter than the colonoscope, can help doctors detect polyps and remove them immediately with an instrument inside the scope.

Getting Creative with Fundraising

While the “ice bucket challenge” has brought the spotlight on ALS, many people have started getting creative with ways to raise money for cancer research. The Canadian Cancer Society’s “Fearless Challenge” has participants accepting dares and facing fears in exchange for contributions—one person promises to cover his body with tarantulas for $5,000 in donations, for example.

Do you have questions about something you’ve heard in the news? Get in touch with Issels to discuss the latest knowledge on cancer treatments available.