Cancer and Health 102

In the past week's blog, we discussed cancer briefly, reviewed a couple of x-rays of a dog affected by metastatic cancer as well as discussed the three stages of cancer development.  At the end, we were discussing the stage of cancer "initiation" and impact by current therapies.

The stage of "initiation" is the beginning, where it all began in terms of cancer development.  We raised the question as to if there was a genetic change in a cell line, then why didn't our immune system detect that cell and remove it?  This is a complex question, but I believe that immune system is compromised in those individuals or overwhelmed, which then opens the door for cancer development.  Maybe the immune system is poor due to dietary reasons, concurrent medication use, genetics or even lifestyle influences and stress.  Stress, by itself, is a huge factor in disease development and one study that I read years ago (can't recall the paper title) mentioned that after interviewing cancer patients, it was discovered that a large percentage of those patients were affected by a major emotional event within the prior 10 years.  That emotional event could be job stress, divorce, death in the family...the list goes on.  Stress and emotions impact our overall well being at a cellular level.

Now considering this stage of development, the question has to be raised as to how does chemotherapy or radiation impact development?  To me, they simply do not.  They may kill certain cancer cells, but they don't impact that genetic change that has taken place in the cell line, when in fact they may exacerbate it.  As long as there is still one mutated cell present in the body and the circumstances have not changed, then the cancer is still present and can redevelop.  The bad thing, in my eyes, is that often times, the chemotherapy or radiation weaken the host's defenses and thus make matters potentially worse. First, they may weaken the host's immune response and second, these therapies in and of themselves are potential initiators and promoters, leading to cellular mutations and potentially new forms of cancer development.  Ever heard of a person recovering from one form of cancer but then develop a new type a few years after chemotherapy or radiation?  I certainly have.

In my point of view, we need to address the concept of ramping up the host's defenses and targeting the cancer cells on a level that does not impact normal cells.  We are all exposed to initiators or potential carcinogens on a daily basis, so how do we handle this?  It would be great to live in a bubble and minimize our exposure, but even in that case, the plastics used in the bubble would be carcinogens.  We can't get around them or away from them.  They are in the air, in our food and even in the water you drink, not to mention our other lifestyle influences such as smoking.

I am not 100% against chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but feel this is not the only method and also feel that we need to support those patients undergoing those treatments.  The immune system is a vital component to prevention and potentially treatment and there are many research projects that discuss this approach and actually a few medications on the market designed to enhance the immune response. We need to look at our diets as well as lifestyle and environment, assessing if there are things we can change or improve.  Diet, in terms of nutrients, is a huge factor not only from an immune system enhancing point of view, but often times various foods or herbs can actually impact cellular signaling between cancer cells, impact cancer cell death as well as angiogenesis.  I have seen animal patients come into our office totally depleted by their current cancer treatments and have seen humans in the same situation.  It seems that we, as a medical society, do not seem to support these patients and provide them with the nutrients they need to heal, repair and recover.  Not sure why, as overall poor patient health appears to contribute to the increased mortality rate.

In terms of patient presentation, they often present at different stages.  We may have a dog or even a horse present with a small skin nodule that is removed surgically, biopsied and reported as being benign.  Then we may have a patient present with full metastatic disease and subsequent organ failure.  They are two different extremes, but should be treated with the same philosophy and that is to improve overall patient health.  In the case of the benign skin nodule, benign is perceived to be better than malignant, and it is, but it is still a sign that cancer or cellular changes are occurring.  Remember, a benign lesion becomes malignant in the "Progression" stage.  So, when encountering a benign lesion, we are essentially in stage 2 of the process, which is good, but still signals that a problem is present.  Should we just remove that benign lesion and send the patient off, or should we evaluate for possible ways to interact and improve that patient's health and immune response?  I, personally, vote for the second option.  In cases of full metastatic disease, obviously we have reached the "progression" stage, and a cure is unlikely, especially if organ function has been compromised.  However, even in this stage there is the possibility of enhancing that patient's quality of life through improved health.  Often times, this level of progressed disease is seen as a hopeless situation, but it is not, at least in my eyes.  I have had patients with metastatic disease be managed well with an improved quality of life for many months or even a year, through dietary changes and alternative therapies.  This is not to say that the disease is gone or 'cured' but more so, the patient improves in terms of quality of life with some possible tumor burden reduction.  I always see opportunities to intervene which may impact disease progression, but unfortunately, some owners and patients give up in their minds and see these efforts as not being worthwhile.

So, how can one impact cancer at various stages?  Natural therapies to me are the most ideal means, which includes a diet free of preservatives, pesticides, dyes and other inorganic material.  The inflammatory process is tightly connected with the progression of many different types of cancer and can potentially be impacted in a positive way through diet and herbal therapy.  Oxidative stress or free radical damage is a major component of the "initiation" stage, in which the free radicals induced by various chemicals directly cause cellular genetic mutations.  The use of antioxidants have shown promise in various cancer therapies and research papers, but are frowned upon by oncologists.  Personally, I find them very helpful in our patients, but the reason that oncologists are against them is that many of the chemotherapy regimens and even radiation therapies actually induce oxidative damage to cells, with the hope of causing cellular death.  Using antioxidants during these therapies is controversial, as the concern is that they might negate the effects of chemo or radiation.  This has yet to be proven to the best of my knowledge.  In fact, many herbs and some antioxidants have been shown to be useful during certain chemotherapy or radiation treatments.  How?  They appear to actually sensitize cancer cells to the effects of chemo or radiation, which makes them more susceptible.  They also can help to protect normal cells from secondary damage.  Curcumin is one major example of herbs with this ability and it has been demonstrated in a few research papers, but still continues to be pushed to the side.

I don't have all of the answers to cancer, but believe that we are missing the bottom line point and that is deterioration of the host with an increased susceptibility to cancer formation.  The incidence of cancer has increased dramatically, at least in my lifetime and we have to question why instead of just focusing our resources on targeted therapy.  Our environment and food sources are changing, which is impacting our health as well at that of our pets.  We have to see this and understand it as well, but yet raise the question as to how to best protect ourselves from the disease.  It is far better to prevent than to treat.  Cancer affects individuals and animals from the very young to the very old, but there appears to be an increase in the incidence in the middle age groups recently.  Women in the 20's and 30's are being diagnosed with malignant forms of breast cancer, when they should be in the primes of their lives.  Why?  It is not a question of producing a more effective chemotherapy, but more a question of why this is happening and why these individuals are more susceptible.  Is it purely genetic?  Not likely in my eyes.  To me it is more a sign that the individual's defenses are compromised or that they are being overwhelmed with various "initiators" at such as high level that they are being overwhelmed.  This should be the focus of research, how to enhance the individual and diminish the exposure to various carcinogens, but it doesn't appear to be of major interest.

In the end, cancer is a complex and horrible disease whether if it is affecting a human or an animal.  The possibilities are there in terms of treatment or better yet, management.  I think and feel we can do more to improve our own health and even improve outcomes when cancer has already been diagnosed.  Often times, this involves us being our own advocates, keeping our own health in mind versus relying on others to create 'cures' to save our lives.

Just my thoughts.

Tom Schell, D.V.M.
www.curost.com