Read This Quick...

Apparently CSN has decided to censor my posts, either that or I am terribly mistaken and a post I typed just never made it to the board...so here goes again.
From CSN
"The discussion boards, as well as the other features of the Cancer Survivors Network, are designed for the exchange of support and anecdotal information, which includes treatment information within the context of personal experience. The goal of this exchange is to facilitate support and encouragement amongst our members. Posting medical information out of this context lends itself to appearance of the promotion of specific treatments and/or research with would be a violation of the terms and conditions of the Cancer Survivors Network. Discussion regarding treatment options and how they relate to you or a loved one's personal cancer experience is always encouraged."

According to this statement, the way I read it, if I come across some new treatment I cannot share it with the board until I or someone I know has had experience with it.
For instance...
Spice Halts Breast Cancer Spread in Mice
Stops Cancer Caused by Long-Term Chemotherapy

Curcumin, the pungent yellow spice found in turmeric and curry powder, prevents breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice, a significant discovery paving the way for human studies, researchers say.

Researchers also found that curcumin, a nontoxic natural substance, not only repelled progression of the disease to the lungs, but also appeared to reverse the effects of paclitaxel (Taxol™), a commonly prescribed chemotherapy for breast cancer that may trigger spread of the disease with long-term use.

“We are excited about the results of the study and the implications for taking the findings into the clinic in the next several years,” says the study’s principal investigator Bharat Aggarwal, Ph.D., professor of cancer medicine in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Experimental Therapeutics. “At this time, advanced breast cancer is a difficult foe to fight with few proven treatments available after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.”

Spice also reverses chemotherapy effects

The study, published in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research, reports that the spice appears to shut down a protein active in the spread of breast cancer.

Because Taxol is so toxic, it activates a protein that produces an inflammatory response that induces metastasis (cancer spread). Curcumin suppresses this response, so that the cancer does not spread. In fact, researchers found that adding curcumin to Taxol actually enhances its effect: Curcumin makes the therapy less toxic – and just as powerful and effective.

Curcumin and Taxol combination most effective

Taxol is currently used as the front-line chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancers, but because it frequently induces drug resistance after prolonged use, it is not effective in treating metastatic breast cancer, Aggarwal says.

His research team studied 60 mice with breast cancer, which were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Tumors were then surgically removed, and mice in the third and fourth groups were fed a curcumin diet.

Results in the four study groups:

Control group – (No Taxol or curcumin) 96% of mice developed metastasis that could be seen by the naked eye (macroscopic disease).

Taxol alone – Researchers found “modestly reduced” cancer metastasis.

Curcumin alone – The spice produced a “significantly reduced” level of lung metastasis.

Curcumin plus Taxol – This group had a “significantly reduced” level of lung metastasis. There was no macroscopic disease present, but microscopic metastasis (visible only under a microscope) was found in the lungs of 28% of mice who received curcumin and Taxol. The microscopic cancer consisted of only a few cells, suggesting that the combination of curcumin and taxol inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells that were in the lung before the tumors were removed.

Curcumin has been successful in other studies

The findings build on a previous study published in the Aug. 15 issue of the journal Cancer, in which M. D. Anderson researchers found that curcumin stopped laboratory strains of melanoma from growing and forced the cancer cells to die.

Related story:

Spice Blocks Melanoma Growth in Lab Tests

Now if I have to follow CSN rules I may have to take this stuff for 6 months to find out if it works. I don't know about the rest of you, but for me if anyone hears of potentially good news let me know ASAP. In our world EVERY day counts!

I'm not advocating turmeric, I'm just sharing info AND I thought practicing my right to free speech.
This is the SURVIVOR'S board and sharing info can sometimes be vital to surviving.
How does the board feel?
hummingbyrd