Lung Cancer & Supplementation

[Guest hearrean]

I was just wondering about some others opinions on taking supplements in the battle against Lung Cancer? I recently read a great book entitled "Beating Cancer With Nutrition" by Patrick Quinlan. His book was not simply based around his opinions, but rather actual mediacl trials, etc. He talked about many, many supplements, anti-oxidants, etc. that have shown promise in fighting cancer. He also talks about the importance of nutrition & exercise.

I ask this because I know several Oncologists seem to disagree with a lot of supplements & even feel they are or may be useless. Many Oncologists will tell you to stay away from anti-oxidants during chemo; things like Vitamin C, Selenium, etc. as they can adversely affect the treatments.

I just wanted to get some other's opinions on this.

Ken

[Lisa O]

There are many different studies going many different ways. Some studies of late have shown that antioxidants do not necessarily protect cancer from chemo as many oncologists believe. My oncologist is fine with the diet and excercise part of the alternative/complementary path, but will not allow supplements while on chemo.

[cat127]

i will chime in a little. and preface it with, as i've said a few times, the fact that i am a research scientist, a dr of pharmacology. i spend my life, writing, reading and critically reviewing scientific studies/reports. i would just add a word of caution, don't put more weight than it deserves on the phrase 'medical trials'. anyone can say look at this 'medical trial' we ran, but until it is critically reviewed, and in my mind that means by the FDA, then i give little to no weight to that trial. i think the general public tends to view that phrase to mean that something has had serious scientific scrutiny, and that is not always the case. i would need to know how the studies were conducted, were they blinded, what statistical analyses were used (i can manipulate statistics to make many things look like they work, when they don't. a peer review of that data, the scientific scrutiny, would catch that), is the study reported just in this book or in a scientific journal, and then which scientific journal, because that matters too.

and somewhat related to that, give even less weight to any study that you see that refers to killing tumors in animals. we like to say in the field, we've cured mouse cancer a thousand times over, it's the jump to human cancer that has us stumped. any drug, and i mean ANY drug that is even in phase 1 trials for oncology, killed tumors in animals. it is what is called proof of principle. it is the reason that a company feels it is worth pursuing a compound for efficacy in cancer. i can't count the times i've heard on some news program, or read on the net "why isn't this thing approved, it killed cancer cells!". well because that doesn't for a second mean it will work in people. so a lot of these supplement things, they too have animal data. but it doesn't mean much of anything. for instance, keep in mind that the mouse doesn't really have lung cancer, it has cells from a lung cancer cell line implanted under its skin. that is a very different beast than a human who has a tumor growing.

sorry, don't mean to get on my soapbox, it is just something that always irked me as i felt it was dangling something in front of desperate people when the last thing they need is to be mislead. and now i'm sitting here with a really personal vested interest, and it angers me even more.

that's not to say i'm anti supplement, i'm just pro true scientific evidence. of course i have to be, the need for scientific evidence keeps me employed. and i make no judgement on this book, i've not seen it at all, so i don't know whether or not the efficacy that he claims has in fact withstood scientific scrutiny. just making some generalizations based on what i do for a living.

[hockeyma]

A member Ernie ("Enrol")has used alot of supplements and I believe still does. He has a great breakdown of what and I think what for. You may want to search that out. Heather

[recce101]

Ken:

Dr. West's website onctalk.com has a post on complementary/alternative medicine and supplements by a naturopathic physician at the same cancer institute:

http://onctalk.com/2007/08/08/cam-intro-by-dr-labriola/

According to Dr. West, "People should feel free to submit questions to Dr. Labriola in the Q&A forum here [onctalk.com]. Just start a new thread and put it in the folder labeled “Naturopathic Medicines and Supplements” on the pull-down menu. He’ll check in and will try to provide the best information he can."

Aloha,

Ned

[kathy86]

I will state that I have read that oncologist's receive 90% of their income from chemotherapy. I do take supplements and strongly believe in them. Read about Haelan 951 and AHCC. I do take the Haelan 951 and have not suffered any of the side effects of the chemo. My oncologist did ask me not to take my supplements the day before, the day of and the day after my chemo, otherwise he is fine with them. Chemo is poison, but like so many people, I'm scared to totally abandon it for supplements. I think that when used together, they can compliment each other.

[azgirl]

I believe that nutrition and/or supplements are important for cancer patients. My mom has had several different doctors during her treatments, and EVERY single one has brushed off the notion that poor nutrition can attribute to the progression of cancer. EVERY doctor has told her, basically, "eat what you want". I find that to be such a disservice. Luckily we have taken upon ourselves to take the time to study, research, and learn what many doctors either don't know or won't tell us.

I recommend the book, "The China Study" by Dr. Campbell (I can't remember his first name--I don't have the book in front of me right now.)

That's my 2 cents on the subject. (for whatever it's worth)

[recce101]

"azgirl" EVERY doctor has told her, basically, "eat what you want". I find that to be such a disservice.

The only times I've heard that were in the case of chemo and/or radiation patients who were having great difficulty eating their customary foods and were dropping below their normal ideal weight, a dangerous situation. Those patients were told something like "eat what you want when you want" -- i.e., frequent intake of foods which are tolerable since at that point packing in more calories is more important than a perfectly balanced diet.

But other than that, I certainly agree with what you say. A healthy body allows one to dispose of those wayward cells naturally, with little if any outside help.

Aloha,

Ned