Supplementing your therapies

[Dragonfly2]

I belong to a Healing Cancer Study Support Group on Facebook and they post scholarly articles about the various ways to heal cancers. This article , Natural Compounds as Modulators of Cell Cycle Arrest: Application for Anticancer Chemotherapies, ( l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http.... ) has some interesting and reassuring info about the supplements that I have been using to support my current IBrance, Anastrozole and Zometa therapies. While the article addresses use of natural compounds for many different cancers I tried to home in on those that focused on breast cancers. In the past I had learned about the supportive function one of berberine, quercertin, resveratrol, silymarine (milk thistle), and curcumin. Moreover, eating a diet rich with fruits and vegetables, especially citrus, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, thyme, and lemon balm is good for our fight against these immortalized metastatic cancer cells.

While the article is long and full of scientific language, one can browse through it, pinpointing relevant info for your particular situation. In the end, they write:

“Natural compounds from plants, microorganisms and marine life forms were often showed to exhibit strong abilities to inhibit tumor cell proliferation in vitro and even block tumor growth in vivo. Accumulating evidence shows that many natural compounds from numerous biological sources are able to regulate various phases of cell cycle leading to cell cycle arrest in tumor cells originated from a number of human cancers. Furthermore, emerging evidence reveals that many natural compounds exert their anti-proliferative activities through similar molecular mechanisms involving downregulation of phase-specific cyclins and CDKs, while upregulating CDK inhibitors. “.

We are what we eat…and turning to these naturally occurring compounds can only help our standard therapies to work at optimum levels.

Hugs to you all…stay strong, stay positive 😉

[NPmary]

Thank you for sharing.

[Hidden]

Thank you very much! I have been looking for a natural ways to support my body during this journey. 🙏

[Nocillo]

Thanks for sharing. I wonder if any of these plants are actually in our pill recipes? I know nothing about how they make drugs other than what I’ve heard about the rain forest being a huge medicine source.

[Orkid]

Thank you for sharing. I am very interested in learning how to support the immune system through foods and supplements. Can you please let us know the name of the facebook group?

[Dragonfly2 in reply to Orkid]

Hi! It’s called the Healing Cancer Support Group.

[urthmothr]

It would be best to check any of these with your doctor and/or pharmacist, to find out whether any of these supplements might interact negatively with your treatment. I had to drop some things while I was receiving Taxol for chemo, with other prescribed meds to counter the side effects from the chemo. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unknowns in over-the-counter supplements, and my doctor's approach was, "If we don't know, don't take it." That relaxed after I finished my Taxol.

[Dragonfly2 in reply to urthmothr]

I would say absolutely! Always check with your onc!

[Verbena1]

Hi, interesting stuff, just my quick 2c, it was suggested to me (on another FB cancer support group) not to take milk thistle if you have a hormone driven cancer, I think burdock root was supposed to be a good substitute- thanks for the info~

[Dragonfly2 in reply to Verbena1]

Thank you for the clarification. While other sites show that milk thistle helps with metabolizing hormones, it may well not be the right choice for certain cancers. Thank you !

[love2golfwell]

Thank you for sharing this. I have been reading and listening to many health webinars that talk about these very same things. I recently listened to one by an integrative oncologist who supports the use of Chinese medicine including various herbs and supplements along with traditional cancer treatments and she talked about herbs that would work similarly to Ibrance and the other CDK4/6 inhibitors. It was fascinating. Her name is Nalini Chilkov and her site is integrativecanceranswers.com if you are interested in checking her out. I also listened to a webinar by Dr. David Jockers and he talked about various foods that contain some of the things you listed instead of taking them in a supplement form. I truly believe things other than medicine can help us but my doctor does not believe in supplements so I am very cautious about them. However, I have been taking a multivitamin that is made from various fruits and vegetables and a raw calcium/vitamin D that comes from plants and my last bloodwork was really good. I will definitely read this article! Sending you hug.

[Dragonfly2 in reply to love2golfwell]

Thank you so much for your reply! I agree that eastern medicine has its deeply rooted values … it works with the whole being. So glad you are benefiting from your healthful lifestyle and nutrition ! Stay strong, the fight is long 😅

[Melpub]

Hi, Dragonfly! With Ibrance: I found a change of dose made an enormous difference for me; 125 mg was exhausting but 75 mg seems to do the trick without wiping me out (just got back from the gym!!) With food: well, I try to be reasonable--not too many sweets, not too much wine, lots of veggies and believe it or not the old-fashioned four basic food groups. I don't think there's a one true way with food. I eat what I like.

[Dragonfly2 in reply to Melpub]

Oh yes, the dosage of Ibrance does make a difference!!! My onc always says it’s a marathon not a sprint. It’s not about obliterating the cancer now… just keeping it at bay. Yup, common sense and moderation in food do true!😅