Cancer is not only the tumor; it's also the process

carolenk said:

Targeted therapy
Wow! Thanks for posting that link, Kate. Who would have thought that the proton-pump inhibitor Nexium (esomeprazole) would play a role as targeted therapy against cancer?

How fascinating that proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are routinely given IV as "chemo pre-med therapy" to stop the chemo-induced nausea. There may be a bonus benefit to the PPI therapy in inducing a change in the pH of the tumor (more acid within and more alkaline outside) therby making the tumor more chemosensitive!

I was told by the oncology nurse that a lot of the OVCA patients were on PPIs and I wonder if the PPI alone is helping to extend survival, prevent metastasis or just prevent chemoresistance.

There is more in that article that was new to me (such as DNP therapy) but the basic idea that cancer thrives in an acidic extracellular environment is the basis for the alkalinizing diet as support for survivors.

I use Alka-Seltzer Gold (it has no aspirin in it) if I have strayed off the dietary path (ahhh, say during holidays) to neutralize the acidic effect of too many carbs. It is so hard to keep turning down delicious Hungarian pastries when my mother is such an excellent baker!

LaundryQueen said:

Misunderstanding of information
Carlene: I don't know if you read the article or not. I don't think the article was about the role of Nexium in cancer prevention so much as it was about the role of a proton pump inhibitor like Nexium (and other agents) in helping chemo work better and in inducing death in cancer cells.

I understand that your situation DID respond to chemo and did NOT metastasize--that is what I think carolenk meant to imply as one of the benefits of Nexium for cancer patients.

The fact that you are doing well as a survivor says SOMETHING is working!

So many women have been treated with "standard of care"--some do well and some don't; I think they need to be looking at common themes found in the long-term survivors and the ones who are cured.

No one understands what flips the switch that starts the cancer machine--and I certainly ate an alkalinizing diet prior to the diagnosis myself and still do.

I appreciate the importance of research in finding agents that change in the environment or the process of cancer. We all need to start thinking outside the box like Nancy.

srwruns said:

"I am not going to break out
"I am not going to break out the champagne just yet. "

WHAT? Isn't champagne sampling required to get "just the right one" for a celebration?

Hissy_Fitz said:

My cancer DID respond well
My cancer DID respond well to first line chemo and 12 months of Taxol maintenance, but at diagnosis it had spread far beyond my ovaries. It was throughout my omentum and a number of lymph nodes, plus it had invaded my bowel and duodenum.

I would love to hear that something as mundane as Nexium could prevent cancer from spreading or recurring. My doctor told me that several years ago, they were giving everyone Celabrex, hoping for the same thing. It didn't happen, but who knows what kind of connection might someday prove beneficial?

Clamryn (I think) was taking Metformin, prescribed by her gyn/onc. I tried to talk mine into giving it a try, but he was not impressed with the studies and wouldn't prescribe it.

Truly, the fact that I am still NED is due, I think, to the Taxol maintenance. Only time will tell if that's true or not. I have been totally off chemo drugs since the end of January, and my CA125 has gone up 2 points every month - from 7 to 9 to 11. My CT scan was clear (less than 3 weeks ago), and I had a confirmed UTI, which could have spiked the CA125, I guess, but I am not going to break out the champagne just yet.

Carlene

Tethys41 said:

Not just quackery
You can pass it off as quackery if you want. What I know about the success of this trial is this. It has made pancreatic tumors disappear. It has put a woman I personally know with breast cancer into remission for the first time, when chemo couldn't. There was an ovarian cancer patient taken out of hospice to participate in the trial. She came in unable to speak and in a wheel chair. Three weeks into the treatment, she walked in. I've also heard that MD Anderson is interested in what is going on with the study. I think we will all be hearing about this more and more.