Your body cells, particularly neurons, love the sugar glucose. This is the reason that your body closely regulates the level of glucose in your blood. Your brain would literally starve without it. If you do not consume enough carbohydrates in your diet, your body will synthesize the glucose you need.
Unfortunately, cancer also loves glucose. It loves it so much that cancer cells are willing to burn through glucose as quickly as possible, similar to the way muscle cells burn through glucose during rigorous exercise (a process known as glycolysis). Cancer cells also supplement their "diet" with glutamine, an amino acid found in proteins.
In order to implement this metabolic shift, cancer cells put more glucose transporters (which import glucose) into their membranes and rely on glutamine to satisfy other nutritional requirements. This has led to the hypothesis that blocking the import of glucose and the metabolism of glutamine could serve as powerful weapons against cancer. In other words, starving cancer cells of their favorite foods could inhibit tumor growth.
When I read this I was thinking there are a lot of targeted personalized therapies for fighting the cancer itself and for the immune system to get in the fight as well. There's the harsh chemo therapies being used which act like a shot gun blast to the body. Why not cut off the food supply the mutation relies upon? It just made so much sense. It could be a part of the fight and it could be a part of the prevention as well. Cut off the mutation feeding while allowing other systems that need Glucose and Gutamine to survive🤔👍🧬💪❤️.
A nutritionist would be a better consult for an overall what should eaten daily. The point here is we know what all cancer tumors require to survive. However, glucose and glutamine are needed by other functions of the body as well. So how do we shut off the mutation from getting it? Perhaps a drug is needed or maybe a way for the immune system to shut it off? I don't know, but it is interesting the different approaches to preventing and fighting cancer. If you have cancer, I would definitely limit sugar intake. There are many foods providing it naturally and you don't need to add sugar snacks and drinks.
Ask your Oncologist or your cancer center should have a dietitian that can help you. 👍
I was stage 4 hereditary Lynch Syndrome. My genetic testing said MSI-h, dMMR, MLH-1. Immunotherapy was beneficial . I did 2 years of chemo and some radiation which didn’t help. Folfox & Folfiri. The nivolumab (opdivo) was my immuno drug.
I'm doing good. My recent PET scan showed my tumor shrunk by half and lymph nodes are now tiny with no activity. So that's good news. I get an MRI next, then meet with my Dr. to discuss the scans and talk about radiation. So far I just had 8 cycles of Folfox.
Half is an amazing reaction 💪👏👏 and the lymph nodes as well. I hope the side effects aren’t too harsh. I found the Pet scan to be a strange process, but it’s amazing what it can show.
I do wish you well with your fight. Have they talked genetic testing? Tumor testing?
Hi CFCFifgter …. Ok. More than likely MSS and not MSI-h. I would think 🤔to know that you are intact nuclear expression, you had genetic testing and know from that your mismatch repair is intact (MMR). I am dMMR (deficient mismatch repair).
So, being MSS, the immunotherapies wouldn’t be beneficial. Thus the chemotherapy.
All colon cancer patients need to know their biomarkers. This is how beneficial targeted therapies can find you. Tumor testing is important as different cancer tumor types (lung, colon, melanoma, etc.) may have common biomarkers which means a beneficial therapy for one may be beneficial to another.🤔👍. I had stage 4 colon cancer and benefited from an immunotherapy drug developed for certain lung and melanoma cancers. It’s more about the mutation than the cancer type. But you have to know as much about yourself so these therapies can find you 👍❤️.
Yes you are correct it's MSS not MSI-H. Thus the chemo and next radiation. I wish they had immunotherapy for this type because it seems to work wonders. Perhaps someday. I'm glad you are doing well.
It’s amazing how things changed concerning that. I had two cousins pass away from colon cancer in 1996 & 2001 at the ages of 36 & 41. I was diagnosed in 2012. There were very few therapies besides chemo and radiation and we know now that is ineffective on MSI-h, dMMR, MLH1 gene. I was lucky as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) was more cost effective and the discovery of more tumor biomarkers which enabled pan-cancer therapies which is why I got invited to a clinical trial with Opdivo (Nivolumab) and it worked. It was the only thing on the table for me.
You are right, all of the sudden you wanted to be hereditary so an immunotherapy may be beneficial. I still see some in almost the same situation as me and the immunotherapy doesn’t work. There are so many variables. Every cancer is unique.
You never know when something will available and be beneficial.
Have you been in contact with one of the AI driven clinical trial and therapy locators? Like Massivebio, or xCures, or Leal Health? If I ever have a reoccurrence, I would definitely do that as there is no way an Oncologist can keep up with the different research projects, clinical trials and therapies world wide. I believe they are all free to the patient. If you want those websites, I can provide that as well👍❤️
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Stage 4 colon treatment option...going it alone.
Rectal cancer 
Bowel cancer
Terrified. Have symptoms of colon cancer
