Research and experience on reducing side-effects from platinum-based chemo/radiation

LuvnTN
LuvnTN Member Posts: 75 Member
edited June 2022 in Head and Neck Cancer #1

In October of 2021, I underwent TORS (left side) w/ a left-side neck dissection.. followed by 30 treatments of radiation (proton - both sides), and seven weekly chemo infusions (cisplatin). I did two things you might want to research to reduce side effects: 1. fasting during chemo infusion; and 2. daily red-light therapy for oral mucositis resulting from radiation/chemo. I water-fasted 24 hours before and after each chemo infusion. I found that the toughest part of chemo was getting the IV inserted each week (i opted out of a port). Now, I don't know if I am just one of the lucky few that doesn't have side-effects from chemo, or if it was all due to the fasting. The doctors questioned the fasting, and repeatedly told me I needed to eat as much as I could every day.. because eating calories would help me heal quicker. None of my doctors were aware of any of the fasting research I referenced. Specifically, my fasting plan is for platinum-based chemo (which cisplatin is). The researchers claim that the body goes into self-protection mode during the fast (all except for cancer cells). The lack of eating allows all of the body's energy to go to work on just healing vs having to work on digesting all of that food in your system. Also, as a bonus, it possibly enhances the effectiveness of both treatments. FYI (regarding red light therapy)- my Vanderbilt oncologist told me that they are currently doing a study with the oral red-light therapy (don't know the results). My personal experience during treatment was that I was able to eat regular food throughout treatment, and did not require a feeding tube. Here is the video link of the oncologist describing her fasting research and results (starts at the 5:45 mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBIslLSL5n0

For red light research look at YouTube video: "Revolutionary Laser Light Therapy Helping Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy". 8,633 viewsDec 18, 2018

and, search this article:

"Laser Therapy as a Preventive Approach for Oral Mucositis in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: The Potential Role of Superoxide Dismutase"


Comments

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,464 Member
    #2

    LuvnTN welcome to the forum and congratulations on your successful treatment. You went through an extensive treatment as many of us do. I see you had a neck dissection, was that the cancer you had, lymph nodes or was it something else and they took nodes out to be safe? Also thanks for the information you provided, it gives folks another way to consider treatment options. Were all your treatments done at Vanderbilt?

    Take Care God Bless-Russ

  • LuvnTN
    LuvnTN Member Posts: 75 Member
    #3

    Hey Russ, thanks for the blessings! I was dealing with met scc, hpv+, originated in left tonsil and spread to lymphnodes. From the neck dissection, they removed 58 and found cancer in 35 w/ one showing nodal extension. Not many options available to me at that point. I was working in California at the time of diagnosis… so, my surgery was done at USC Keck. I opted for Proton radiation at Provision Proton in Franklin, TN (not available at Vanderbilt), and my chemo was at Vanderbilt. Because of the nodal extension, they felt treating both sides was better vs just the left side to be on the safe side. My follow-up ENT is at Vanderbilt. So far, had a clear CT, and two clear ENT follow-up exams.

  • ERomanO
    ERomanO Member Posts: 323 Member
    #4

    Welcome to the forum LuvnTN. I can't really wrap my head around the logic of waster fasting during chemo, but it is interesting nonetheless. I doubt that many doctors would buy into that thinking as they tend to follow the tried and true methods. But you would have to sit down with one and debate the idea in medical terms. I can understand their concern about eating during chemo because many people lose a lot of weight during that time. As one nurse told me as he was administering the cisplatin "Once you lose more than one quarter of your body mass you'll start losing muscle mass, and if you're older than 50 that muscle mass isn't coming back". While I was going through chemo, the food that I could manage to eat were high in protein, but not high in calories. So it was a struggle to keep from losing too much weight. I did not look into the red light therapy, but anything would be worth a try.

  • LuvnTN
    LuvnTN Member Posts: 75 Member
    #5

    Yes, it is funny because most of the breakthrough research on fasting during chemo is coming right out of USC from a group led by Dr. Valter Longo. When I mentioned it to my ENT at USC, he said had never heard of Dr. Longo or anything about fasting. So, there is definitely a disconnect somewhere with the message getting out to practicing groups (even when it is at the same university). I also know that these university doctors are extremely busy, work very long hours (both practicing and teaching), and don't have much free time to research things outside the "tried and true". I did see a video the other day about a man who fasted before one chemo infusion and did not experience any sickness, nausea or tiredness. He felt so good that he doubted it was a result of the fasting.. so, for his second infusion, he didn't fast. After his second infusion, he felt horrible, with nausea and vomiting, for several days. He went back to the fasting for the 3rd infusion, and felt fine afterwards. I think that it is definitely worth looking into, because if you can reduce/minimize/eliminate the nausea, vomiting and tiredness from chemo (and can minimize oral mucositis sores with red light therapy), you can most-likely eat more during the non-fasting days of the week. To get my calories during eating days, I did a low-carb, whole-food, meal-replacement shake loaded with one whole avocado and 5-6 tbsp of olive oil. There are approx 250-320 calories in one avocado, and 120 calories in one Tbsp of olive oil. So, in addition to eating some protein, veggies and fruit, my shakes alone were averaging over 1,100 - 1,400 calories without adding any sugar. Also, my cynical side believes that since there is no $$ to be made from a patient fasting, nobody is going to invest the time/energy/effort to advertise its benefits to the medical practitioners. Note: while I did not experience any nausea, I did have some mucositis and thrush at times... however, it didn't progress to the point where I couldn't eat regular food. I had my red-light device with me all of the time, and used it whenever I felt pain in my mouth.

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