Integrative Approaches to Cancer
Outline and Key Concepts -- 2008  

        Conventional medicine focuses on destroying cancer with surgery and/or radiation and/or chemotherapy and/or hormonal manipulation (like Arimidex for breast cancer or combined hormonal blockade for prostate cancer) and/or monoclonal antibodies designed to target specific steps in the cancer process, such as blocking growth factor receptors (e.g. Tarceva) or interfering with new blood vessel formation (e.g. Avastin). All of this is done without much attention to the person’s defenses against cancer or the overall health of the patient. Both the anti-hormonal therapies and the monoclonal antibody treatments show some promise, but also have several drawbacks.

With regard to solid tumors, most cancer research has focused on reducing the size of the tumor in order to determine whether or not a particular treatment is beneficial. Unfortunately, reducing the size of the tumor has little relationship either to the survival or quality of life of the patient. This is true because the tumor consists not only of cancerous cells, but also body defensive cells as well, and shrinking the tumor kills both types of cells, which may lead to increased risk for cancer spread.

The oncologist in discussing treatment options usually refers to a “response to treatment,” which means the likelihood that the tumor will shrink.  The patient generally thinks a response to treatment refers to either improved survival and/or improved quality of life. So there is a breakdown in communication. It is crucial for the patient to learn to ask the right questions before beginning any treatment.

The most important first step in the CAIM (Complementary, Alternative and Integrative approach is educating the patient.

Examples of poor communication between physician and patient involve our most common cancers in women and men: breast cancer and prostate cancer.  Women with breast cancer are generally not told that radiation following a lumpectomy and axillary lymph node removal will not improve their survival.  Men with prostate cancer are not told that no statistically significant evidence exists to indicate that a radical prostatectomy or any kind of radiation therapy will improve their survival.  On the contrary, in both examples, the patients are usually presented with these options with the implication that these treatments are absolutely necessary and that there are no other choices.

Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine (CAIM) approaches to cancer presuppose that the body has the ability to heal itself under the proper circumstances and much less emphasis is placed on destroying the cancer at all costs.  Emphasis is placed on building up the body to handle the cancer with relatively non-toxic methods.

The clonal-mutational theory of cancer helps us to better understand the strengths and limitations of the conventional and CAM approaches to treating cancer.  One theory about cancer is that it develops as a result of mutations involving three specific classes of genes: (1) Proto-oncogenes, which normally stimulate normal cell division, become oncogenes, which stimulate and accelerate wild cell division; (2) tumor suppressor genes, which help to prevent cells from dividing abnormally, mutate and fail to put on the brakes; and (3) DNA repair genes, which repair damage to other genes, including Proto-oncogenes and suppressor genes.  These mutations are either inherited from parents or result from environmental influences—exposure to too many adverse environmental factors like chemical mutagens or radiation and/or not enough exposure to protective factors like phytonutrients.  Environmental mutations accumulate over time, so that cancer is generally more common with age.  Generally, four or more of these types of mutations within a cell are necessary for the development of clinical cancer.  The more mutations present in cancerous cells, the more bizarre, angry and aggressive the cancer. In addition, Dr. Beljanski has offered the theory that destabilization of DNA by carcinogenic substances interfering with the hydrogen bonding between the two DNA strands, also contributes to cancer development and progression.  

Radiation and chemotherapy are highly mutagenic and carcinogenic (in addition to being toxic, immune suppressive and causing destabilization of DNA).  They may contribute to the development of more mutations in cancerous cells that they do not kill.  This helps to explain the well-known phenomenon that after conventional therapy using these therapeutic modalities, when a cancer recurs, it is almost always more resistant to further treatment and more difficult to treat.  Furthermore, these treatments are immune suppressive (e.g. they significantly reduce natural killer cell functional activity) and damage the body’s ability to fight the cancer.  Could we be building in long-term disaster with routine radiation and/or chemotherapy for breast cancer and radiation for prostate cancer?  In evaluating these modalities, we need to balance the cancer killing potential of these treatments with their ability to cause further mutations and damage the body’s defenses.  At the very least, when using these treatments, we should be paying attention to ways to building the body simultaneously to reduce their adverse effects.

The various CAIM therapies tend to be protective against mutations and immune enhancing and should be used either alone or to counteract the negative effects of radiation and chemotherapy.  One small, but very impressive study showed that when high doses of nutrients were given to patients with small cell lung cancer along with their conventional therapy, survival was drastically improved.  The fear of using anti-oxidant nutrients because they may inhibit the pro-oxidative killing effects of radiation and/or chemotherapy is probably not justified because the nutrients are much more beneficial to normal cells than malignant cells.

Categories of CAIM treatment programs at our Center are:  (1)an avoid list; (2)dietary recommendations; (3)oral nutritional supplements; (4)an injectable program; (5)bio-oxidative therapies; (6)hyperthermia-done outside our office; (7) detoxification; (8)possible hormone balancing;  (9)exercise; (10)fresh air and natural light; (11)stress management and imagery techniques; (12)homeopathy; (13)various other general modalities, such as bodywork in the form of acupuncture, massage or spinal manipulation or magnetic therapy; and (14)conventional medication including specific conventional cancer treatments that are done outside our office by other practitioners.

The avoid list given to all patients is a general list of foods or environmental exposures that patients are asked to avoid as much as possible.  These include:  (1) tobacco exposure—both active and passive; (2) alcohol; (3) caffeine; (4) refined carbohydrates—including white sugar, white flour and white rice; (5) fluoridated and chlorinated water and fluoride in all forms, including tooth paste; (6) hydrogenated fats; (6) mercury amalgam fillings; (7) artificial chemical additives to foods—including artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and saccharine; (8) pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in food; (9) high voltage power lines; (10) microwave ovens; (11) electric blankets; (12) aluminum cookware, aluminum containing anti-perspirant deodorants and aluminum containing medications; and (13) polluted air.   

Dietary recommendations: Patients are asked to eat a wide variety of fresh whole organic foods with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits and whole grains with high-quality animal protein foods as well.  If tolerated, a significant percentage of the diet should be raw.  Most patients are recommended to take a large number of oral supplements, including vitamins, amygdalin, minerals, proteolytic enzymes, essential fatty acids, phytonutrients, essential sugars, therapeutic foods and herbs. These nutrients tend to be synergistic as shown in a simple rat experiment, which showed that as the number of nutrients was increased, the therapeutic effect was increased. We frequently use the products developed by Mirko Beljanski for cancer patients for their benefits to cancer patients directly and also for their positive effects with conventional treatment, providing that excessive dosage are not used. Beljanski products include 2 herbal extracts with anti-cancer properties (Pao Pereira and Rovol Vomitoria), an herbal extract that inhibits abnormal scar tissue formation (Ginkgo Biloba) and an RNA extract from non-pathogenic E.coli, which stimulates platelets and white blood cells (especially helpful for patients undergoing radiation and/or chemotherapy). A fermented wheat germ product (Avemar) from Hungary inhibits cancer cells and nourishes normal cells. We are also using a complex mineral supplement called Clinoptilolite (a special form of Zeolite) for its cancer killing activity and its detoxification properties.

Most patients receive an injectable treatment program involving high doses of Vitamin C, and amygdalin. Both of these treatments tend to kill cancer cells (for different reasons), but leave normal cells alone. Other components of the program involve the categories mentioned above.

We sometimes recommend low-dose naltrexone therapy, hydrazine sulfate or other medications that appear to help cancer patients, but are generally not used by conventional oncologists.