Some prostate cancer patients are interested in natural supplements, especially IP6. Here is an abstract of a case report of a melanoma patient achieving a complete remission without traditional oncology from a Mayo Clinic physician (Jacksonville) and two colleagues..
"Inositol hexaphosphate plus inositol induced complete remission in stage IV melanoma: a case report"(June,2019)
"Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) also called phytic acid is a polyphosphorylated carbohydrate naturally found in cereals, nuts, grains, and high-fiber-containing foods. It has been shown to inhibit the growth of many different tumor cell lines both in vitro and in vivo like colon, pancreas, liver, prostate, and even melanoma. Vitamin B inositol is a precursor of IP6 and another naturally occurring compound with anticancer properties. We present a case report of a patient with metastatic melanoma who declined traditional therapy and opted to try over the counter supplement IP6+inositol instead. To our surprise, the patient achieved a complete remission and remains in remission 3 years later. On the basis of this case and previous preclinical studies, we believe further research is indicated in exploring anti-proliferative and potential immune stimulating effects of IP6+inositol in patients with metastatic melanoma."
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CalBear74
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Here is a Dr. Greger's, MD view about IP6 natural supplements. Dr. Greger has an opinion based on the data on the subject. So, if you dissagree, contact him. In like manner, Just because you don't do something, doesn't mean others don't on this forum.
My take on it is that the level of high evidence, scientific support is not particularly strong.
This anecdotal report refers to a single patient who had metastatic melanoma, not advanced prostate cancer. (I unfortunately happen to have both, myself.) Any direct comparison now, lacking clinic trials, seems like Apples, Oranges, and Bananas to me.
Sure, this IP6 product is probably listed as a food supplement generally recognized as safe (GRUS) by the US FDA, but it is far from having a high level evidence for therapeutic value in treating advanced prostate cancer.
If anyone wants to buy it, that's a choice. Millions of people do all sorts of things at various costs for various reasons. Some people just eat cereals, nuts, grains, and high-fiber-containing foods in their normal diets, too.
I would just want to remind folks here that actually refusing doctor-recommended treatments entirely (as in the Posted example) in lieu of some alternative or supplement or questionable protocol can also have unexpected or even dangerous consequences. Disease progression and quality of life can be impacted, and sometimes there can be shorter Overall Survivals. Most folks would want to balance comparable amounts of high quality evidence when considering their Options.
It's also often telling when one finds the following Statement in the fine print of product packaging or on a website, despite any claims they may have made.
"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
Just my 2 cents.
(No need to shoot the messenger, nor to inject any current partisan political references or name calling.)
The bigger danger with some of these alternatives is often not the substance itself, but the distraction away from proven treatments. Many times people think "Oh, I can do this instead of these other treatments."
The problem I see is that one isolated case doesn't prove anything, especially if it's a different cancer.
We only know if treatments are effective if they've been studied in clinical trials involving many human patients who actually have prostate cancer.
Maybe at some point, there will be trials that prove IP6 is effective in patients with prostate cancer.
I used to have to write a lot technical reports. I often deliberated to decide if "substantial" or "significant" was the most appropriate adjective. Based on my reading of HealthUnlocked postings (but not private emails) since joining about two years ago, my impression is that natural supplements have a significant but not substantial following. But one thing for certain: natural supplements vs. SOC has provoked substantial spirited discussion.
Is this article claiming (and do you believe ) that ADT for stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer patients, reduces life span and should not be used? I’m not being argumentative or making any value judgement here. I’m just trying to fully understand your message here.
I can't speak for George, but nothing in the article itself appears to suggest ADT reduces life span and should not be used. To me, it simply suggests ADT might have (additional) potential costs that can be weighed against potential benefits.
It is already reported that ADT may up-regulate some pathways that promote angiogenesis and metabolic changes that might help promote progression. So I'm not sure it is all that controversial to suppose ADT can have some pro-cancer effects as well as the obvious anti-cancer ones. That in no way means the anti-cancer benefits do not carry more weight (as a rule), and have the ability to extend life and relieve symptoms. But it might be another reason for some docs to not automatically tend towards a set-it-and-forget-it treatment protocol of Lupron-for-life.
hello, I wasn't planning to respond to this but since I can't sleep anyway I decided to "google" the stuff and found that there is info. from MSK on it.....here is a link:
maybe those of you who are interested in the topic have already read that.
I have no knowledge or opinion on this topic (I had never heard of the stuff before...the name reminds me of something that was used to "cut" powdered drugs...)
but I will repeat something I read or heard once from the doctor in Michigan whose name escapes me that had (has?) a newsletter:
if something "works" then it also probably has side effects.....this MSK info. does include a section on
DO NOT TAKE IT IF....
(copied and pasted...apologies to MSK)
."Your are taking mineral supplements: Phytic acid can bind with calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc in the stomach and reduce their bioavailability.
Your are taking anticoagulants/antiplatelet agents: IP6 has antiplatelet activity and may increase the risk of bleeding.
Clinical relevance of these interactions is not known."
good luck to all of us. may we all be safe and protected from ourselves and each other.
p.s. I just looked at the sections for health care providers on the same topic and lo and behold they have citations there....here is the admittedly OLD study re: the platelet issue:
Yes, I had noted those reports some months ago and decided this sounds like something I want to avoid. But that is the strange thing about disease states, as opposed to healthy states... perhaps it is those very "side effects" that are part of a mechanism of action that helps inhibit disease progression?
That "clinical relevance of these interactions is not known" (mineral binding, antiplatelet activity, etc.) sounds like a bad thing, and certainly could be. But the same can be said for many meds with proven efficacy. Known costs, known benefits, unknown costs, unknown benefits.
In cases of Cancer, Anti Platelet activity is NOT a bad thing as long as platelet count stays above 100000.
Platelets facilitate multiplication of cancer cells by sticking to cancer cells and hiding them from being eaten up by phagocytes. Also Platelets release "growth factors" which accelerate metastases.
Many effective anti cancer drugs and substances Do work by reducing platelet count and thus, lowering PL ratio. If IP6 does have anti platelet activity then, this only increases the chance of this substance being anti cancer.
"Your are taking mineral supplements: Phytic acid can bind with calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc in the stomach and reduce their bioavailability." I believe it is generally recommended to take IP6 on an empty stomach, so would that not bypass this problem?
I saw MSK's link before. As someone that was involved for fourteen years in manufacturing pharmaceuticals I can tell you that R & D departments with multi-million dollar budgets don't do much study with beans or rice. There $$ in a drug that might contain a controlled substance or need to undergo hydrogenation, centrifuging the crystal, the solids, from the diluent or vehicle and so on.
The Japanese have for decades been prescribing PSK for their patients receiving chemo with good results--otherwise they have stopped prescribing--right? What is wrong with something being helpful? PSK now has interest in the US.
I advocate conventional SOC but also believe some alternative supplements and treatments can be helpful. As always, one's doctors should be aware of what the patient does. It is nice when teamwork prevails rather than a rigid, antagonistic sort of tunnel vision that benefits neither the patient or the doctors.
Maybe a few studies on IP6 & Inositol would be helpful? For those of you who take POMI-T, POMI-T may very well have resulted from a study funded by a non -profit. That study found that the four ingredients of POMI-T were effective for prostate cancers.
thanks for your comment.....reminds me that I was privileged to have an ob/gyn who did not scoff at my use of black cohosh when I was going through menopause.....in fact, when he had gotten some samples he gave them to me as he knew I was using it (formulated and tested in Germany as I recall....) laughing...by the way....I am the wife of a man with prostate cancer.....just to clarify....
re: POM....I think there was someone at a university who worked on it also....
I took a bottle this summer. Just ran out of it. I've been on Lupron for two years, and take a variety of supplements and off label drugs, so it's difficult to know what good each thing does. But I'm holding steady after two years.
Thank you for this post. My husband took IP6 for quite some time then he told me he was on too many empty stomach supplements so he stopped.
I think some of the members may find this interesting. Inositol in high doses may help folks with anxiety. You have to take high doses -18g a day. Our doctor recommended it to one of our kids. He did not tolerate it well.. so we have stopped but I think it is interesting.(We just used regular Inositol for the anxiety not IP6 )
hugs and prayers to you all.
My sweetie, (Neuroendocrine PCA), is still alive and well. We have drs appointment coming up.. so fingers are crossed. Just happy to still be here.
(I could also point out that melanoma isn’t prostate cancer, but you probably already know that).
When you are trying to promote something with no trial data behind it, anything remotely resembling "evidence" can be used. There's no need to actually prove anything as long there is a following.
As long as there are people on a forum that say they are using it and they think it's working for them, that's good enough for many people.
We can't trust subjective evaluations, over controlled clinical trials with many individuals. Many times, those who promote unproven alternatives have an agenda and some of them are on SOC treatments that they don't happen to mention, leading people to believe the alternatives are what is working.
I've seen this several times here on the forum so just beware.
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